Would You Like a Cookie?
by Lifeless Romance
Summary: Grimmjow and Ulquiorra are constantly fighting but are they really just in denial about their feelings for each other? No matter;it's nothing some aphrodisiac-spiked cookies can't solve. UlquixGrimm OOC w/ OCsxGrimUlqui. Highschool setting.
1. Animosity

**Author's Note: **

**Hey yall! Well, um this is just something really random one of my friends here on Fanfic (****_ElementistMagicAkua)_**and I cooked up. I know I should probably be working on _Love and Chocolates_ but I got sidetracked xP and the RPG-ish conversation we had was just walking towards this direction and it was one of those "THIS HAS TO BE A FANFIC" moments. 

**The OCs in this story probably won't do anything over T rated because it is still going to be a UlquixGrimm fanfic but it's not a guarantee. However the OCs _do_ reflect Ulquiorra and Grimmjow personality and appearance wise which I think you all might be able to catch (but I'll explain a bit more after this chapter) which sorta forshadows the UlquixGrimm bits (I think) I'm still not good at explinations sorry TT_TT.**

**ANYWAYhere's a clip of the conversation that we ended up having (It started out as talking about my fail to draw rofl)...**

_**Me:** People like me... I can copy any picture you give me almost to at least 95% accuracy whether it's painting, photograph etc. But i cant draw origional art to save my life T^T_

**_ElementistMagicAkua_**:_*hugs* s'ok_

_**Me: ***sniff*_

_Okay T.T_

_**ElementistMagicAkua:** Cookie? *offers*_

**_Me: YAY! ^.^_**

_*takes cookie*_

_*nibbles*_

_(Yes I nibble on cookies... dunno where the habit came from O.o)_

_Ty! :3_

_**ElementistMagicAkua:** *takes annother cookie and nibbles as well* hmm, addicting. *continues nibbling*_

_**Me:**lol XD_

_wanna a chewy cookie? :3 *nomnoms happily*chewy cookies are so awesome! x3_

_(chibi Ulqui): I wants cookie too T^T  
**ElementistMagicAkua**:(Chibi Grimmy): *holds out the bag he stole from Stark* cookie?_

_**Me**:YAY! ^w^_

_**ElementistMagicAkua**  
ChibiGrimmy: Ya gotta gimmie somethin first though. *blushing, wants to ask for a kiss*_

_**Me:**  
ChibiUlqui: *semirape/glomp attack of smooches* (of doom!)_

_Can I have cookie now :3_

_**ElementistMagicAkua:**  
ChibiGrimm:*smiling, puts one half in his mouth and kisses Ulqi again, sharing the cookie at the same time*_

_**ElementistMagicAkua**  
*calling from kitchen* Who wants milkshakes? *swiped the bottle from you and poured it into the mix*  
ChibiGrimmy: I do!_

_**Me**  
ChibiUlqui: Ne, ne! Me too! x3_

**And that's how that happened O.o rofl... Yeah... and there ya have it, this fanfic was born!**

**All I have to say at this point is: If two people are in denial about loving each other, it's nothing some aphrodisiac-spiked food can't cure hahaha XD**

**And I STILL DONT OWN BLEACH! **

**Big thanks for _Dior Crystal_ for just being awesome and betaing this (and my other numerous fails heehee) and still a HUGE chunk of thanks to ****_ElementistMagicAkua_ for this idea. **

**Sorry this was so long. Enjoy this story none the less!**

**~LR**

* * *

The school bell rang; a sign of another school day at Karakura High School. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as students in their school uniforms walked into the school building. Until…

"Damn it, you fucking emo kid!" a tall, teal haired teenage boy yelled as he shoved a shorter boy with raven hair, emerald eyes and pale skin.

"Please keep your hands to yourself," the shorter boy with green eyes stated in monotone, "this routine of yours is becoming quite tiresome."

"Um… Ulquiorra…" a petite, pale, waist-length blonde-haired girl with green eyes chimed in, attempting to break the tension.

"So you're getting worried, ne?" another voice whispered behind her. "What do you think we should do, Kiorii?"

Kiorii turned around to face the girl behind her to be met with glistening violet eyes, and straight, long, dark-brown silky hair with a hot pink strand on either side of her. Her skin was fair, but not nearly as pale as Ulquiorra's.

"Emma! You changed your strand colors again!" Kiorii said as she looked at her friend, studying her. "You look like you lost weight too."

"Yup! 97 pounds…" Emma said, striking a pose. "And you worry too much, Kiorii. You're already starting to have bags under your eyes. You haven't been sleeping well lately have you?"

"Now that you mentioned it," Kiorii said as she gently rubbed her eyes with the back of her right hand, "No… Ulqui-nii… well… you know…"

"Well… if we don't break those two up, we'll all be late," Emma said with a sigh, "Let's go stop them before they do something serious to each other."

Emma proceeded to walk behind Ulquiorra before gently putting her hands on his shoulders while Kiorii walked up to Grimmjow and gently guided his hands away from Ulquiorra's shirt collar.

"We better get going," Kiorii coaxed the two quietly, looking at the ground while fiddling with a strand of her straight blonde hair, "Um… we'll be late if we don't hurry…"

"Yeah," Emma agreed, "I don't wanna have to sit my ass in detention again because of you two."

"Tch. Fine," Grimmjow said, obviously pissed off, "Let's go." Kiorii grabbed Grimmjow's right hand and pulled him towards their classroom. Emma did the same and pulled Ulquiorra to their classroom. As they pushed the two guys into their respective classrooms, green eyes met violet as Emma mouthed 'Talk to you after school. My house, okay?' Kiorii only nodded as she turned to go inside her class.

During lunch time, Grimmjow and Kiorii sat on a stone bench under a tree in the front courtyard. Kiorii's hands were in tight fists on her lap, as she stared at the ground, her bento untouched. Grimmjow, obviously still pissed, ate his lunch quietly. But when Grimmjow glanced at her for what seemed like the seventh time in twenty minutes and she still has not budged, Grimmjow became worried.

He put his empty bento down beside him and wrapped his arms around the clearly dejected Kiorii.

"Hey, baby, why the sad face? Don't tell me your cousin's emo vibe is getting to you," he whispered into her ear.

Kiorii shook her head and looked up at him. Her green eyes looked into his sapphire eyes, and she smiled sadly before Grimmjow pulled her closer, her head against his chest. She relaxed her tightly fisted hands as she listened to his steady heartbeats.

"Damn. Your cousin must be raising hell back home if you're this tensed up. That bastard son of a– "

"Grimmy, he's still my cousin," Kiorii said quietly.

"Yeah… I just can't believe you two can even be related," Grimmjow said as he began playing with her hair.

_I can't believe you guys used to be best friends,_ Kiorii thought to herself.

"So… you gonna come over today after school?" Grimmjow asked, changing the subject.

Kiorii shook her head. "I'm going to Emma's today. She invited me to a sleepover and we'll be studying for the final exams…"

"Oh," Grimmjow replied as he lifted her up and placed her on his lap. "Damn. Is it me or did you lose weight?"

"Well… I just haven't been feeling well lately…" Kiorii tried to think of an excuse.

"You better eat your lunch, missy!" Grimmjow joked half-heartedly. Kiorii only shook her head telling him she wasn't hungry.

Kiorii just leaned back and allowed Grimmjow to wrap his tan, muscular arms around her as she closed her eyes. "I'm just a bit sleepy that's all."

At the same time Emma and Ulquiorra were in the music room. Ulquiorra sat in the corner furthest from the door, his headphones in his ears as he munched on some homemade onigiri (courtesy of Kiorii), looking out the large glass window.

Emma sighed when she looked at Ulquiorra while she sat on the piano bench. _This isn't going to have a good ending… I can feel it._ Emma brushed her hands across the piano keys before she decided to talk to him. She got up and walked over to where Ulquiorra sat looking outside. She sat beside him and looked out the window, finally realizing why. Outside this window, she could see Kiorii and Grimmjow very clearly – just as Grimmjow lifted her onto his lap.

"I cannot believe Kiorii is dating that piece of trash," Ulquiorra said quietly, his gaze never faltering.

Emma sighed. "Kiorii can date anyone she wants. And as her friend, I'm going to defend her rights to do so. I won't let this rivalry between the two of you affect my life or hers. After all, Grimmjow's complaining about us too." Emma lifted her fingers and began playing with Ulquiorra's messy black hair. "And she's doing the same for me."

"…"

"Where did it all go wrong?" Emma said to herself.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Ulquiorra said quietly as he took off his headphones and looked at her.

"You and Grimmjow used to be such good friends when we were young. What happened?" Her violet eyes met his for a moment before she leaned against Ulquiorra's shoulder.

"I…We… just drifted apart. Him with his… things… and me with my music." He wrapped his arms around her waist as they both continued to look outside the window.

_We need to think of a plan and soon…_

The bell rang ending the lunch period. The two of them quietly got up, gathered their things and walked out of the music room, closing the door behind them. The two couples met up with each other with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra trying their best to avoid each other's gaze. Kiorii and Emma waved to each other as they walked back to their classrooms. As they walked past each other Kiorii whispered into Emma's ears, "Meet me in the music room after school."

As the bell rang for the end of the day, Kiorii hastily packed her belongings into her school bag while everyone else was rushing out the door. She waited until she and Grimmjow were the only ones left before she got up from her desk and headed towards music room with Grimmjow tagging along right behind her.

"I guess I'll see you this weekend," Grimmjow said as they stopped in front of the music room door.

Kiorii replied with a nod before Grimmjow gave her a quick, but warm hug, and left to go home. As soon as Grimmjow was out of sight, Kiorii opened the door to find Emma already there waiting for her, tuning a violin. She closed the door behind her quietly and walked up to her, clearing her throat to make her presence known.

Emma put down the violin and looked at her. "So… got a plan?"

Kiorii shook her head.

"You think we might need to get Szayel to help again?"

"Maybe…" Kiorii sat down in the same corner Ulquiorra sat during lunch that day and looked out the window. "I honestly don't really trust him, but he's good with things like medicine and drugs…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm not really into people like that either. He's borderline drug-dealer." Emma sighed. "But if he's good at what he does… making intoxications and all that."

"Emma," Kiorii said her name sternly, "You're not thinking of drugging them both, are you? After all, that last person Szayel tested his 'new drug' on died in three days."

"Come on. It's different. That was an accidental overdose of his new sleeping agent. What we need is a strong aphrodisiac."

"But what if there're heart complications?" Kiorii asked, "Aphrodisiacs tend to increase the heartbeat and increase body temperature. What if it goes overboard and – "

"Well, it's just a thought." Emma said, "Let's get back to my place and we can discuss this at home. But I'm definitely going to contact Szayel again."

Kiorii nodded and got up, straightened her school uniform, and took her schoolbag. They left the school side by side.

"I guess I'll see you at your place in two hours. That gives me enough time to change and all that," Kiorii said as they neared their street.

"Yeah. It's fine. Besides, we live across the street."

"Yup!" Kiorii smiled cheerfully, "That'll give me enough time to get dinner ready at home too. Want me to bring anything over?"

"Well, your chocolate chip cookies are awesome. Bring some of them over if you have time to make them."

"I'll try my best." Kiorii waved to her Emma as they walked into their two-story homes.

Before Kiorii could even put her key into the keyhole, the door opened from inside, revealing a very dissatisfied Ulquiorra. His arms crossed in front of his chest as Kiorii walked in. Everything in the house was neatly organized – they were both very annoyed at disorderliness. Nothing was out of place and if it was, both of them could spot it without a second glance.

Ulquiorra closed the door behind her, and Kiorii, paying no mind to his presence walked to the kitchen and began to prepare dinner. She opened the refrigerator and asked, "Ulqui-nii, what do you want to eat for dinner today? I'm going to Ema's house in two hours."

"…Yakisoba." Ulquiorra said after some thought, "Are you going to stay over there for the night?"

Kiorii nodded as she began preparing the ingredients. _Yakisoba… it doesn't take that long to make so I guess I might have some time to bake some cookies._

"Oh! Ulqui-nii, I'm going to bake some cookies to take over to Emma's house. Would you like me to make some for you too?"

"...Sure..."

Ulquiorra stood at the entrance of the kitchen, and leaned against the wall. His arms were still crossed in front of his chest, and he watched as Kiorii cooked and baked. The only sounds in their home were the constant chopping and sizzling sounds that emitted from the kitchen as Kiorii made the yakisoba.

The silence between them didn't make matters any better and as Kiorii scooped out the yakisoba and put them on two china plates, Ulquiorra, still leaning against the wall, spoke.

"What do you see in that piece of trash anyway?" He was obviously displeased.

"You have no right to interfere with my love life, Ulquiorra. Besides," she said as she set the plates down on the table, "why does he bother you so much? If you think he's such a worthless piece of trash, why do you care so much?" The icy tone in her voice shocked Ulquiorra, but he said nothing.

Kiorii ignored her cousin's silence as she began to make cookie dough. Ulquiorra set the table, sat down in his seat and began to pick up single noodle strands, eating them one at a time. He pondered the questions Kiorii bombarded him with. _Why DO I care so much? _Ulquiorra asked himself as he ate and glanced at Kiorii as she mixed a large bowl of cookie dough.

_If Szayel succeeds in making an aphrodisiac that works..._ Kiorii smiled to herself fiendishly.

"Kiorii, you should probably eat. I'll put the cookies in the oven." Ulquiorra's voice cut into her train of thought

"Oh. Okay." She sat down in her seat and began picking at her food. She just wasn't hungry.

Ulquiorra looked at Kiorii with concern.

"_Kiorii can date anyone she wants. And as her friend, I'm going to defend her rights to do so. I won't let this rivalry between the two of you affect my life or hers. After all, Grimmjow's complaining about us too..."_

He got up from his seat and walked towards Kiorii, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry I yelled at you last night."

"Huh? Oh. It's okay…" Kiorii said quietly as she continued to pick at her food.

Ulquiorra sighed. "No, it's not."

"The moment already passed. You can't go back and change what happened." Kiorii stood up and left the kitchen, her food untouched. "There's no use pondering the past." She walked upstairs. "Excuse me while I take a shower and change. Just put the cookie dough on the cookie sheet I already prepared in quarter-fistful chunks after you roll them into balls. Spread the chunks apart so they don't stick to each other and put it in the oven I already preheated for thirty minutes." She went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

_Did she always speak in monotone?_

Meanwhile, Emma, tidied up her room, which was littered with CDs and random accessories. _Here's the black and pink butterfly hairclip I lost,_ she thought, as she picked the said item up and clipped it onto her dark purple bat-spotted pajama sleeve. _In case I lose it somewhere again._ She straightened her room and rearranged some of her many visual-kei posters. She looked over her room, pleased with her cleaning. The doorbell rang.

"Emma! Open the door!" Kiorii's voice called from outside.

"I'm coming!"

Emma raced downstairs and opened the door. Kiorii stood at her doorstep in her white baby-doll dress and matching short-shorts, her straight, blonde hair in two low pigtails with her bangs swept to the side instead of being clipped. She carried a plate of fresh, steaming cookies and her schoolbag.

"AWESOME! You made some cookies! Come on in. Make yourself comfortable in my room while I go make some tea." Emma dashed to the kitchen.

Kiorii stepped in, took off her shoes and looked around. Everything was arranged in perfect order. Emma knew that Kiorii was sort of a neat-freak, just like Ulquiorra. She walked up the familiar stairs and up to Ema's bedroom.

There was a small table set up with two cushions, each on opposite side of the other. She placed her plate of cookies in the middle of the table and sat on one of the cushions. Kiorii looked at her plate of cookies. _I wonder if I saved enough for Ulquiorra… Come to think of it, I haven't even tried one since he was the one that mixed and put the dough in the oven._ Kiorii reached for one and began to nibble on it slowly. _Mmm. Nothing out of the ordinary. The vanilla from the cookie dough didn't overpower the chocolate chips._

"I'm back!" Emma announced as she appeared in the doorway to her room. She was carrying a tray with two steaming cups of green tea. "The cookies look good."

"Yup!" Kiorii agreed as she continued to nibble on her cookie.

"Heh, nibbling again eh?"

"Sorry, it's a bad habit."

"Nah. I still nibble too. I think it just makes everything last longer and taste better." Emma placed a cup of tea in front of Kiorii, took the other and placed it on her side of the table before she sat down facing Kiorii.

"So… what's the occasion?" Kiorii questioned.

"We need to do something about those two," Emma said in a dead serious tone.

"I agree." Kiorii took a sip of her tea. "But do we really need to contact Szayel again?" Kiorii already knew the answer.

No matter how much of a creep Szayel was, he was always good with mixing up some really powerful drugs...

Kiorii sighed when Emma picked up the phone in her room, dialed Szayel's number and put it on speaker.

"Hello?"

"It's Kiorii and Emma."

"How are you two doing this fine night?" Szayel asked casually.

"Spare us the pleasantries, Szayel," Kiorii snapped coldly.

"Cold as usual, ne, Kiorii?" Szayel asked mockingly.

"We didn't call you for small talk," Emma said, getting very pissed.

"My, my. Impatient today, aren't we?" Szayel chuckled. "What do you two lovely ladies need of me this time?"

Kiorii and Emma looked at each other and nodded before Kiorii answered back.

"Aphrodisiac."

* * *

**A/N: Yup! First chapter is done! And as you might have noticed (or not) Kiorii has Ulqui's eyes and somewhat his personality and Ema's a reflection of Grimmjow's personality. Which is sorta proof that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow are in denial about each other! AHAHAHAHAHAHA XD**

**I think Szayel turned out a bit creepier than I thought he would though I will probably reveal all that other stuff later on. Um... I cant think of anything else to say to yall... I hope you enjoyed this fanfic XD**

**Please Rate and Review! ^.^**

**~Loves~**


	2. Solitude

**Author's Note:**

**I'm BACK!!! :D**

**I guess the story turned out to be a bit more complex than I intended but simple things bore me so... I guess It works out for me. xD**

**This one took a while cause I was like "Hm... should I add this? or That or delete this or that and all that stuff." My brain and I seem to disagree on more things than normal for this particular story xP**

**Oh yes! And this story will now be betaed by _HanakoAnimeaddict_ since Dior Crystal's trying to finish her 30-something fanfics by august and I figured might as well loosen up her load a bit so she can at least have a few extra minutes to do that. xD**

**GIVE mah new beta some love xD!**

* * *

There was a pause as Szayel considered their request.

"Well," Szayel replied slowly, "you should know already – I have two types of aphrodisiac: one that is mixed in with drinkable liquid with a slight sweetness in flavor and one that is injected directly into the body."

"If we wanted either one, we wouldn't be calling you now would we?" Emma snapped back impatiently.

"We need a custom-made aphrodisiac and – " Kiorii began explaining.

"It won't be cheap, my dear." Szayel interrupted in a sing-song voice, sounding very amused.

"Name your price." Kiorii snapped back.

"Hm… well, I shall get back to you on that then _mon_ _cher_. After all, the cost of materials won't be cheap…"

"Just name your price. I guarantee you that I can pay any amount of money you want for it. As long as it works."

"Well, _mon_ _cher_ I –" Their conversation was suddenly cut off with the distant sound of a phone ringing. "Excuse me I have an important call coming through. Adieu for now my dears. Why don't you try calling again tomorrow?" Then he hung up.

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed as she reached to grab another cookie. "So… what do we do now?"

"I honestly have no idea." Kiorii answered, looking around the room. Her eyes rested on a gold-framed picture. She got up and walked towards it, lifted it up from the wooden shelf it was placed on before taking it back to where she and Ema sat.

"You remember?" Emma asked as she noted the picture, "My seventh birthday."

"Vaguely," Kiorii answered, "It seems like ages ago…"

The picture was of Emma's seventh birthday: Emma, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, and someone that looked so much like him she could have been mistaken for his sister, Kiorii. They were all gathered around a birthday cake, shaped like a green cat, smiling and in the middle of singing happy birthday.

"So…" Emma said before jumping on to her bed, "Why _did_ you decide to go blonde?"

"It was more experiment than fashion if that's what you're asking." Kiorii answered quietly, looking at the picture,

"Do explain."

"I always had the feeling Grimmjow asked me out since I looked too much like Ulqui-nii…I mean just because our mothers were identical twins..." Kiorii began, "Anyway after he did, I decided to see whether it was because he liked _me_ or the fact that I resembled Ulquiorra too much."

"And?"

"I was right." Kiorii answered flatly. "After I 'went blonde', he...changed. His mind began drifting elsewhere."

"You mean like he lost interest?"

"Yes."

Emma sighed before lying on her stomach and resting her head in her hands. "You sure you're not over-thinking this?"

"Well that and the fact that the school called me to the principal's office and gave me a lecture on how high-school students were not suppose to dye their hair."

"Right… It's not Germany." Emma sighed.

"Yeah…" Kiorii nodded, "But on a different note; do you know what this Szayel person look like?" she turned her body to face Emma.

"To be honest… no I don't. Szayel was pretty well known back in my junior high. But you were still in Germany back then."

"I see," Kiorii remembered. "But I missed Japan. Having to finish my last two years of primary school _and_ junior high there…ugh." Kiorii shuddered, "I mean it's not _bad_ but I missed you guys too much."

"I'm just glad your dad let you stay with Ulquiorra."

"Same here." Kiorii leaned against the side of Emma's bed, "But how did you end up knowing someone that you never actually seen before?"

"Let's see…" Emma tried to remember, "What happened was I overheard a group of girls talking about him and what he did and I managed overhear one of them giving another girl his number. Out of curiosity, I dialed the number and I found out that he also makes things other than aphrodisiacs and all that stuff." Emma said as she grabbed another cookie. "But he has never shown his face. The people that usually deliver his products to people, I think there were two; one of them, I've seen before – Nnoitora. He's sorta scary – he'd always be flirting with all the girls at my school so he hangs around there a lot. Tesla, on the other hand, he's quiet."

"So… you have no idea what Szayel looks like?" Kiorii's question sounded more like a statement.

"Not really. But get this," Emma sat up on her bed, "I heard that this one kid in junior high, when I was a third year, mysteriously disappeared. Rumors were that he tried to skip out on paying, and that he tried to use an aphrodisiac to rape this one girl, and next thing anyone knew, the police found his body buried under two feet of snow in Hokkaido three days later."

"Which is why I keep saying that we should not associate ourselves with such people." Kiorii said disapprovingly.

"I'm not finished." Emma said with a pout, "The police never arrested anyone and marked it as suicide since not even a stray finger print or strand of hair was ever found. And no physical evidence of abuse or traces of drugs were found either."

"So this Szayel person is a lot more dangerous than I thought." Kiorii said slowly. _He's very thorough that makes him very dangerous indeed._

"Hey by the way, have you heard of this one person named Grantz?"

"Yes. That name sounds familiar…" Kiorii said cautiously, "Wasn't he that academic prodigy that graduated from Karakura some time ago? He managed to get accepted into the University of Tokyo and also managed to be the youngest person to receive a medical degree. He's a pretty famous person in the field of medicine and science."

"That's the one."

"What about him?"

"I think he's currently working at the Karakura Hospital."

"What about it?"

"Didn't you pay attention to what Daisuki-sensei said in the morning announcement today?"

"No. I figured it wasn't going to be important so I tuned it out." Kiorii sighed quietly.

"Well," Emma sighed, "Sensei said Ryuken Ishida is offering an internship sorta class at Karakura Hospital, by application. Whom ever gets accepted gets to work directly under some of the doctors and med staff and study under them too. Applications are due Monday. I thought you might be interested since you always talked about wanting to be a doctor. And that Grantz guy, I hear he's like a miracle doctor and he's volunteering his time to do this internship class. I even took an application form for ya." She said as she handed Kiorii the application form.

"You think I should apply?" Kiorii asked as she studied the application form.

"Why not? It's not going to hurt anyone. And if you get accepted, you get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"I guess."

…

"So what do you think we should do tomorrow?"

"Well, Grimmjow invited me to watch his Judo tournament tomorrow afternoon."

"Mind if I tag along?"

Kiorii shook her head. "Ulqui-nii is going too. We can all go out to eat afterwards."

"That'd be nice. It's been a while since we all spent some time with each other." Emma yawned softly, jumped off her bed and ran to her closet and pulled out a pink, floral-decorated, futon and set it up quickly beside her own bed.

"Hey, remember Ulquiorra's birthday?"

"Which one?"

"The year before I went back to Germany."

"Oh yeah!" Emma said as she remembered, "Ulquiorra's eleventh birthday."

……………………………..~Flashback~……………………………..

"_Happy Birthday Ulqui-nii!"_ _Kiorii ran up to him giving him a big hug, while in one hand, clutching to a transparent plastic bag full of bat-shaped cookies._

"_Thanks," Ulquiorra_ _mumbled quietly._

"_What's wrong?" Kiorii's green eyes filled with worry._

"_We're all sad that you're going back to Germany." Grimmjow interrupted._

"_Today's the last day we'll see you again for who knows how long." Emma said, tears beginning to swell up in her eyes._

"_But we'll still be in touch." Kiorii said, trying to be optimistic. "And here, Ulquiorra, this is for you." She handed him the cookie-filled bag. "You said you always liked bats so I made these for you with Mama."_

_Ulquiorra quietly took the bag, opened it and put his hand in to get one. But suddenly, a big bully snatched away the bag._

"_Hey!" Emma yelled, "Those are Ulquiorra's give them back!"_

_Ulquiorra just looked at his hands, now empty._

"_What's the twerp gonna do about it?" The bully mocked._

_Kiorii was on the verge of tears – all that long hours of work, only to be stolen by a big bully._

_Grimmjow's face twisted into a scowl, his face red with anger, he clenched his hands into fists before he finally snapped. He ran and tackled the bully before pinning the bully down grabbing Ulquiorra's stolen cookies before punching the bully in the face – giving him a broken nose and a nosebleed. "Quit messing with my friends you son-of-a-bitch!" He screamed before getting up, dusting himself off, and walked back to where Ulquiorra, Kiorii, and Emma stood looking. "Here's your cookies_ _Ulquiorra."_

"_Thanks Grimmjow." Ulquiorra gratefully took the bag and gave Grimmjow a quick, but grateful hug._

"_No problem," Grimmjow said, blushing slightly from embarrassment, "That's what friends are for right?"_

……………………………..~End Flashback~……………………………..

"Yeah. We had so much fun back then – Just the four of us."

Kiorii closed her eyes, remembering the moment. "Then Mama died of pneumonia that winter." She said quietly.

There was a moment of silence. Emma had not known that, even after all those years, but seeing how upsetting the topic was for Kiorii, she decided not to interrogate the topic any further.

Kiorii looked at the skull-shaped clock hanging on Emma's bedroom wall.

"Hey, it's past midnight." Emma whispered.

"So… you want to study or do you want to sleep?" Kiorii asked in a joking tone as she pulled the thick blanket over her snuggly.

"Good night." Emma said quickly and jumped on to her bed and quickly turning off the lights.

* * *

**A/N: Well, sorry if this chapter was on the short side, my origional plan was to actually post the first and this chapter as one BIG chapter, but I couldnt wait to post this lol. I guess that means the later chapters will be longer and lengthier than previous chapters but it will take longer to write (ah the pro's and cons of life lol?)**

**Anyway, Hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter nonetheless. **

**And please review ^^**


	3. Reminiscence

**Author's Note:**

**I'm back with another chapter! And I hope I tied at least _some_ of the loose ends in the early chapters. There's a few flashbacks in teh chapter that took care of some of the loose ends (I think o.O)**

**As always, Thanks to mah beta reader _HanakoAnimeaddict_ for being such a good sport and betaing this! You did awesome! (as always). **

**And I do NOT own Bleach! **

**That aside, Please enjoy this chapter. It's definitely longer than what I would normally write so I hope it was worth the wait. =)**

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Ulquiorra woke up to the sound of rain hitting against the window in his room. The sun has yet to rise and his room was under a blanket of shadow and grey. With Kiorii at Ema's home for a sleep over, the house was empty save for himself. He got out of bed—wearing matching white pajamas with black buttons, made his bed, and walked out of his room—closing the door to his own room behind him with a soft click. He walked out into the hall where Kiorii's room was—on the opposite side of the hall—the door closed, the painted white door had small intricate designs etched to the wood. He slowly turned the doorknob and walked in to her room.

The room, of course, was nice and neatly made the semi see-through curtains draped over her white canopy bed, where a few stuffed animals sat; their beady black eyes seemed to watch his every move. Through the window in her room, he could see across the street to Emma's house—where Kiorii and Emma were probably still asleep. Ulquiorra looked around the room—the only sound being the splattering rain. There were so many picture frames and stuffed animals and dolls displayed in her room—the little light that came through, reflected by the glass eyes from the dolls only made things a bit creepier. The occasional low humming of the computer at her desk didn't make anything better.

A flash of lightning lit the room for a split second, followed by the sound of thunder. Kiorii's room with all the beady stuffed animal eyes seeming to stare back at him was starting to creep Ulquiorra out, so Ulquiorra walked to the lamp on her desk and turned it on—bathing the room with a warm, yellow-ish light.

Ulquiorra gave a small sigh of relief.

It's been so long since he came in here—though nothing much changed—he remembered the last time he stepped through that door.

_Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Emma all sat at the airport, waiting for Kiorii's plane to land._

"_I can't believe she's finally coming back!" Emma exclaimed with exuberance._

"_It's been almost six years," Ulquiorra only said, "I wonder how much she's grown."_

"_Yeah." Grimmjow agreed, "Almost six fucking years…"_

"_Ladies and Gentlemen: Flight JP6402 has just landed." The intercom announced._

"_That's her flight," Ulquiorra said nervously. He was, of course, nervous… after almost six years' separation, the three of them has changed so much – Grimmjow, always being the tougher one, was already accepted into the Judo team in Karakura High School– the first first-year to be in varsity and with his workouts, not only did he have the tough attitude, he had the muscles and strength to prove it. Emma – she grew out of her 'cute' phase, the energetic happy little girl has grown into a lovely young lady with a love for music with a dangerous side, something Ulquiorra was still curious about—Emma always carried around a small handgun with her in her handbag. Ulquiorra—well, he can't really think of how much he, himself, changed, though of course, he probably changed in everyone else's eyes…He lived alone, with Kiorii's father—his uncle—providing him with far more money and other things than he really needed after his mother and father went missing two years before then found dead; their decomposing, half-eaten bodies found rotting on the sandy Ishihaba Beach. Needless to say, Ulquiorra was scarred by this event. The authorities declared the incident as "accidental" but deep down, he knew it was murder. But no suspect was ever found._

_No one, still…_ Ulquiorra thought remorsefully as he looked out of the window of Kiorii's room, where it seemed to rain even harder now, and continued his flashback.

_The gates leading to where the three of them sat waiting finally opened as hundreds of people began to pour out. The place quickly grew crowded as the three struggled their way to the front where a pathway for the new arriving people was created with velvet ropes. They all stood waiting as people walked out and screamed with delight at the sight of their loved ones waiting for them. They waited for, what seemed like, an eternity as the place began to empty out again and people began leaving the airport._

_Then the familiar figure of his uncle, wearing a black business suit and tie, came to view his dark-brown hair and rimmed glasses and small, but gentle smile, instantly gave away the fact that Kiorii was somewhere close by. Ulquiorra felt his heart pounding from excitement._

_Beside him walked another man, with silver hair and a snake-like grin on his face. The very grin on this other man's face made Ulquiorra shiver._

_Behind them both, a young, petite teenage girl, with long, raven-black hair, pale skin, and green eyes, wearing a dark-green ribbon in her hair – tied in a bow to the side, a knee-high black skirt rimmed with white lace and a matching long-sleeve top, knee-high black socks and black mary-jane shoes. She dragged behind her a large white suitcase._

_Ulquiorra took a quick glance at her eyes and already noticed that something was amiss. Her eyes held a blank stare – looking at the opposite angle of where the silver-haired man was – they were virtually lifeless, something Ulquiorra has never seen before. Something definitely was wrong._

_The blank, lifeless stare quickly disappeared and was replaced by a sparkle of joy as her eyes caught his._

"_Ulquiorra, Emma, Grimmjow!" She shouted, before quickly handing her luggage to her father, before running towards Ulquiorra's outstretched arms. _

"_Hey, welcome back." Grimmjow said, trying to contain his excitement, "you look good."_

"_Um… thanks?" Kiorii replied with slight embarrassment and awkwardness her cheeks turned a faint pink. "Let me get a good look at you guys." She walked back a few steps to get a better view, "Wow you guys changed." Kiorii breathed before giving Emma a big hug. "I missed you guys so much."_

"_My, my…" The snake-eyed man said with a sneer, "Such a lovely reunion."_

_Kiorii only glared at him before turning her attention to her father. "Father, I hope you have not forgotten them."_

"_Of course not, princess." _

"_Oh Daddy, I told you not to call me that anymore." Kiorii said with a pout as she crossed her arms in front of her chest._

"_Ulquiorra, I hope you're doing well," The dark-brown haired man said, changing the subject, "Is the money I send every month sufficient?"_

_Ulquiorra responded with a nod and a gracious smile. "Yes, thank you, Uncle."_

_Mister Snake-face only stood where he was, grinning._

"_Ah yes, everyone. I like to meet my assistant manager, Gin Ichimaru." His uncle introduced._

"_It's a pleasure to meet you all," Gin said as he bowed respectfully._

_Kiorii still tried to avoid his gaze._

"_Uncle, forgive me for asking but… why are you here?" Ulquiorra asked._

"_We have a meetin' in…" Gin checked his pocket watch, "five hours in Tokyo – oh dear, we better get going, Aizen-han."_

"_Ah yes," Aizen walked up to Kiorii and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Be good okay?" He handed her a credit card and a slip of paper, "Everything is set up for you already. When you get settled in, call me, alright?"_

_Kiorii took the card and paper and nodded before retaking the white suitcase back from her father._

_Aizen walked to face Ulquiorra, "Thank you for being so kind and offering to take care of Kiorii, Ulquiorra." _

"_Have a safe trip Uncle."_

"_Thank you." Aizen said with a gentle smile as he lightly ruffled Ulquiorra's messy raven hair. "Let's get going. It would be impolite to ask so many people to wait."_

"_Yes sir."Gin replied._

_As the two men walked out of the airport, Aizen waved a last good-bye the four of them before turning around and exiting with Gin following behind. _

Ulquiorra sighed as he pulled back the semi-translucent curtains before sitting on Kiorii's bed.

"_Well, what do you think?" Ulquiorra asked as he showed Kiorii her room._

"_Wow," Kiorii's emerald-green eyes growing wide with surprise, "It's so pretty! I love it!"_

"_Why don't you start unpacking while I get something for you to eat and drink?"_

"_No thank you. I'm alright." Kiorii said; her voice tense._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_It's that Gin… I don't really like him."_

"_I can see that," Ulquiorra said with a light chuckle._

"_No that's not itl; I think there's something really wrong about that man."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I think… He had something to do with what happened to Mother."_

"_But didn't she die of pneumonia?"_

"_That's what Gin keeps telling everyone… And I also find it odd that after Mother died, she was immediately cremated – there wasn't even time for an autopsy – and her ashes were immediately scattered all over the ocean. But Mother always said she wanted to be buried in a place where she can see the sun rise and set everyday when she died. She never said anything about cremation…"_

"_And you think Gin had something to do with it?" Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow in suspicion._

"_He was the one…" Kiorii bit her lower lip, "who arranged for the cremation in the first place. He was the one that suggested it and Father just went along."_

"_I think you're just over-thinking this a bit too much." Ulquiorra sighed as he helped her unpack._

"…"

_And that was the end of that._

Ulquiorra found a framed picture on Kiorii's desk – the same one Emma had in her room; the picture of the four of them on Emma's birthday – singing happy birthday.

"_Where did it all go wrong?"_ Ulquiorra remembered the question Emma had asked him only yesterday.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes; the truth was something neither Emma nor Kiorii would know.

"_Hey Ulquiorra, can I talk with you for a sec?" Grimmjow had asked._

_Ulquiorra only got up and walked silently behind Grimmjow – following him to the boys' restroom. School had ended almost forty-five minutes ago, meaning the school was almost completely empty – including the restroom._

"_Ulquiorra, there's something I need to tell you…" Grimmjow said shyly, his eyes looking at the ground._

"_Hm?"_

"_Well… It's just that… um… I… I…"_

"_You what?"_

"_I… like you… a lot."_

"_I don't understand…" Ulquiorra said – his emerald-eyes wide with confusion._

"_I… love you." Grimmjow managed to force out._

"_You what?" Ulquiorra asked his mind unable to register what just happened._

"_I said 'I love you'." Grimmjow repeated with more confidence._

"_Well, I love you too Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said with a smile, "You're like a brother to me."_

"_No not that kind of love." Grimmjow said softly._

"_Then wh—"Ulquorra's question was cut short as Grimmjow's lips met his. In a soft passionate kiss._

_Ulquiorra's eyes slowly closed as he realized he was actually enjoying the kiss. It wasn't until Grimmjow's tongue began licking at Ulquiorra's lower lip that his brain registered who he was kissing. Ulquiorra's eyes opened in shock before struggling to push himself away – attempting to create some distance between them._

_Before Grimmjow had time to respond, he had a good look at Ulquiorra's green eyes – filled with fear, confusion, and uncertainty, as Ulquiorra slowly opened the door of the restroom and ran outside._

"_Kiorii, we're going home." Ulquiorra said quickly grabbing her by the arm and yanked her home._

Ulquiorra touched his lips with his fingers. It was wrong but… why did it feel so right back then? Even he, himself, couldn't answer that question.

Another flash of lightning and thunder shook Ulquiorra out of his thoughts. He got up from Kiorii's bed – making sure to smooth out the wrinkles- and peered outside to Emma's house. The light was still not on so they must still be asleep. Ulquiorra turned off the light in Kiorii's room – making sure everything was as he found it – and exited, closing the door softly behind him.

Oxoxox

Kiorii and Emma woke up when the sound of thunder pierced the night, the soft rhythm of the pelting rain hitting the window.

"Hey, you awake?"

"Yes," Kiorii answered softly, "I'm quite a light sleeper—but the sound of rain calms me down…"

—another flash of lightning and crack of thunder—

"What time is it?" Emma asked with a yawn.

"It's around eight in the morning," Kiorii replied, "I should probably get back home, change, get breakfast ready, and dye my hair back if I have the time…"

"Did you bring an umbrella?"

"It's okay – it's less than a minute walk. I'll be fine." Kiorii got climbed out of the futon, folded it neatly before putting it away. She smoothed out her make-shift pajamas before climbing down the stairs and put on her shoes. "Hey, I'm going to leave my stuff here for now. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, you can pick them up when ever."

"Thanks!" Kiorii opened the door – a huge gust of wind and rain almost knocked her back. Before she stepped outside and began to walk home in the rain.

x.x.x.x.x.x

Ulquiorra walked downstairs to make himself a nice warm cup of green tea. As he put a pot of water on top of the stove and turned the stove on, there was a knock on the door.

_Who could it be at this time of the day?_ Ulquiorra left the kitchen to answer the door. What he saw as he opened the door almost made him jump. Kiorii was dripping wet; her baby-doll dress clung to her like a second skin and the material, due to being soaked completely, was almost see-through. Her legs trembled from the cold and her arms crossed around her chest. Another large gust of wind blew – she was obviously freezing.

_What the-_

"I'm wet." Kiorii stated, still trembling, as she walked inside. Her eyes met his and her lips curved in to a small smile. Ulquiorra quickly ran upstairs to retrieve a large towel before running back down and draped it over her shoulders.

"What were you _thinking_?" Ulquiorra asked as he tried to squeeze out some of the rainwater from her hair.

"It was refreshing…" Kiorii replied calmly, her smile widened. Ulquiorra couldn't help but utter a small laugh.

"Why don't you go and take a hot shower and change. I'll make you some tea."

"Okay."

Ulquiorra helped Kiorii take off her water-soaked shoes and placed them next to the heater, attempted to squeeze more rainwater out of her blonde hair before Kiorii walked upstairs.

"Oh! Ulqui-nii!"

"Hm?"

"I think I might have to buy black hair-dye this weekend… Daisuki-sensei called me to the principal's office today about my hair."

"I see…We can take care of that after the Judo tournament."

"Um… I was thinking all four of us going out to eat something afterwards…"

"Alright. We can get that taken care of afterwards."

"Okay." Kiorii walked up the stairs to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Inside the bathroom, she turned on the shower and as the warm steam filled the room, she stripped herself of her soaking-wet garments and underwear and climbed in taking extra care to scrub herself clean.

As she shampooed her hair, she took a small handful and looked at it. "Ready for another round of chemical damage?" She whispered to her blonde hair, not that she expected her hair to answer back. She washed the shampoo off and applied conditioner. After all, a young lady must care for her appearance.

After she was done, she tied her hair up in a high, wet pony tail and wrapped a clean large towel over herself. She walked out quietly, being careful not to slip on the while tile floor, gathered up all her rain-soaked garments, tossed them in the dirty-laundry basket on the way to her room.

When she finally dried herself off, she walked to her closet—picking out a white long-sleeve blouse and a black skirt with white laced edges and laid it on her pre-made bed. Then she took out a pair of white panties and matching bra, as well as a white silky tank-top and began to change—struggling with the bra hooks in the back. Why can't all bras have hooks in a more convenient place? She put on the white blouse—buttoning all the buttons—and tied the ribbons into a neat little bow behind her. Then she slipped on the skirt before going to her sock drawer.

_Hm… black or black with white stripes? Or maybe white?_ Kiorii searched though her sock drawer, she decided on a pair of white below-the-knee socks.

Last but not least the hair. Kiorii frowned to herself. After the last attempt she made to curl her hair into tight sausage curls—sure it looked fine, but damn was her arms sore, she simply decided to tie them back into two high pig-tails, blow-dried it, curled it, and teased them like no tomorrow. She grabbed her hair straightener and straightened her bangs. She decided that letting it fall and cover half her face once in awhile was pretty cute too, until it starts getting annoying.

She got out of her room, disposing all of her used towels into the dirty-laundry basket and went downstairs where the sweet aroma of green tea seemed to creep upstairs.

Ulquiorra must have changed when she was in her room. He no longer wore his pajamas. Instead, he wore a pair of black skinny-jeans, a semi-formal white shirt with a black buttoned up vest and a loosely tied black tie.

"Should I make crepes for breakfast?" Kiorii asked, though it was almost ten in the morning.

"Sure." Ulquiorra said absentmindedly looking out the window. "Looks like the rain stopped."

The sun glistened and reflected blindingly on the wet sidewalk and road.

Kiorii picked up the house phone, "Hey Emma, would you like to come over for breakfast? I'm making crepes… yeah and please bring my stuff over. Thanks. See you in a few minutes."

Two minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Ulquiorra walked over to answer. Wearing a dark-purple plaid skirt and a black t-shirt with a picture of a skull in the front, platform boots and the black and pink butterfly clip she found the night before Emma walked in holding Kiorii's schoolbag and the clean empty plate that once held the cookies from the night before. After taking off her shoes, she put the schoolbag beside the living room couch before walking into the kitchen where three seats were set for the meal.

_._._._

After their quick dessert-breakfast, the three of them cleaned up the kitchen, putting everything away, and cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless, they had walked to Karakura High School's gymnasium, where the Judo tournament was to take place. They were a few minutes early.

"Might as well find some good seats," Emma said, "I don't want someone's blood getting all over me."

"Oh come on…" Kiorii rolled her eyes, "I doubt anyone would let a match be that fired up. They usually stop the fight before that happens."

"You don't know what might happen," Ulquoirra said as he surveyed the gymnasium. The mats were all set up and the chairs were set up on opposite sides – presumably for opposing sides, in case the parents decide to kill each other.

"I might not _know_, but I think I have a fairly good idea of what _might_…" Kiorii said with a hint of wit. She smiled a playful smile before she spotted Grimmjow, already dressed in his white judoji – consisting of a white cotton drawstring pants and a matching white jacket – with a black obi tied around his waist with small embroidered characters: yondan (fourth degree). Yup, Grimmjow is a fourth degree black belt in Judo (Don't mess with him). Grimmjow chatted away with his teammates before noticing the three of them. The blue-haired teenager was about to walk over to where they stood but the coach called the team over, so Grimmjow only turned, gave a quick wave, before gathering with his teammates.

"So… where do you wanna go eat afterwards?" Emma asked, "Why don't we sit in the first row, I wanna catch the action close up."

"But did you not complain, earlier, about getting someone's blood all over you?"

"Oh please, Ulquiorra," Emma dismissed the question with a wave of her hand, "Besides, maybe Kiorii and I can distract the other team." She nudged Kiorii playfully. Kiorii responded with a small giggle.

"Please… what kind of weak-minded idiot would go crazy over a couple of high school girls?" Ulquiorra asked with a sigh.

"You'd be surprised," Emma mumbled to herself as all three of them sat down.

As the gymnasium began to fill up with spectators, the teams from other schools began to arrive—all of them looked tough, if not scary.

A boy with short light-brown hair, brown eyes, and lightly-tanned skin took a look at their direction and began to walk over to where Emma sat, looking at her nails.

"Hey there. How about you and me have a little fun after this?" He flirted.

"How about we not and pretend this conversation never happened." Emma replied, definitely uninterested, as she continued to look at her nails.

"Playing hard to get, are ya?" The guy walked closer and closer until he loomed over their sitting forms.

"Move it, you turd," Emma was obviously pissed, "You're blocking my view."

"Now, now, there's no need for name calling," The boy cooed as he cupped her chin.

Emma snapped. She grabbed his arm invasive arm, pinned it behind him and gave him a kick in the back so hard, she sent him flying into the opposite side, crashing in to the chairs.

"Dumbass." Emma dusted herself off before sitting back down.

Ulquiorra sighed in disapproval but Kiorii caught Emma's gaze and gave her wink and a smile. That was interesting. No doubt about that.

But as soon as Emma sat down, her cell phone began to vibrate – signaling a text message.

_Meet me at the following address at 10pm tomorrow. And we'll discuss payment._

_~Nnoitora_

Emma didn't bother reading the address before closing her phone. Kiorii gave her a questioning look.

"I'll forward this to you later," Emma mouthed silently.

The Judo tournament started with Grimmjow and a blond, spiky haired boy from a rival school.

Emma nudged Ulquiorra, "How much money do you want to bet that I can get this blonde boy distracted?"

"I'm telling you; it will not work. Judo takes a lot of self-discipline. There's no way." Ulquiorra answered back.

"I warned ya." Emma said playfully.

As the match started, Grimmjow and his opponent were evenly matched. Until…Emma looked in her small handbag for her purple lip gloss and small mirror. She made sure the blonde-boy was looking her way before she slowly uncapped the lip-gloss, and applied it to her pouting lips. She smacked her lips a few times silently, watching the blonde boy out of the corner of her eye, but keeping her eyes on the small mirror. She caught the blonde boy's glance for a split second, in which she blew him a small kiss. And in that split second, Grimmjow managed to pin him down and win the match.

"What did I say?" Emma gave Ulquiorra a playful smirk.

"I don't believe it," Ulquiorra said as he covered his face with his hands.

"I win." Emma announced cheerfully as she put her small mirror and lip gloss away.

"What an idiot that guy was," Kiorii said as she waved to Grimmjow, "As for what to eat..."

Ema pointed at her cellphone – reminding her of the text message.

"I don't think we can do that today, something came up and I have to go to Emma's house again after."

"I see."

"Oh come on, Ulqui-nii. We need our girl time." Kiorii coaxed, "Pretty please!" making her best puppy-dog face.

Ulquiorra sighed in resignation, "Fine. Just make sure you two don't go anywhere dangerous, wander alone too late, and if it's too late, stay over."

"Yeah yeah," Emma said casually, "You worry too much."

They seemed to have chatted for a while. Pretty soon it was already the final round. Grimmjow versus the same guy that Emma had flung into empty chairs earlier. Kiorii waved as Grimmjow walked to the mat. Grimmjow answered back with a quick wave. His sapphire eyes caught Ulquiorra's for a second and the two of them quickly turned the other direction. Kiorii glanced at her cousin – questioning his reaction, to see him looking at the ground, trying to avoid all eye contact, and biting his lower lip.

x.x.x

Grimmjow stepped on to the mat. As the referee instructed him and his opponent to bow and get into their ready positions, the boy whispered to him, "Hey. I'm Hiroku Nanahara. Good luck and let's all do our best."

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques," He said with a nod._ Geez, what a pansy._

x.x.x

"Oh shit!" Emma breathed, "Grimmjow's got that bastard in a headlock."

Kiorii massaged her temples. The loud cheering crowd was giving her a migraine. To be honest, the only reason why she came to watch was to support Grimmjow – she really wasn't the type for fighting sports or sports in general. She was never the one to like crowded or noisy places, and judging by the way Ulquiorra was rubbing his temples, neither was he.

She flinched and covered her ears as the crowd cheered. Grimmjow had won.

As the participants left for the boys' locker rooms to change, the crowd emptied out as they rushed to leave. The trio headed to where the boys' locker rooms were to wait.

x.x.x

Grimmjow felt relieved as he turned on the shower in the boys' locker room. After the long tournament, he felt he deserved the nice relaxing shower. The hot steam filled the room – giving him at least _some_ privacy. He washed his hair with shampoo and grabbed the bar of soap, cleaning the rest of his tan, muscular body. He flinched slightly as he brushed over a bruise._ Fuck… oh well_ he thought with a shrug_; it'll heal in a few days._

He turned off the shower, after rinsing himself clean, and wrapped a towel over his lower half of his body before going back to the locker room to get his things and change in the changing rooms. Hell, he was tired like fuck right now. So unless Kiorii wanted to give up her virginity, he wasn't in the mood for anything except going home to take a nap.

"Hey, good job out there Jeagerjaques." Hiroku said as Grimmjow walked out of the changing room – his hair still a bit damp.

"Hey you too Nanahara."

"So…" Hiroku tried to start a conversation as the two of them walked outside, "Any plans this weekend? We should hang out sometimes."

Grimmjow only shrugged in response.

"I saw this really cute girl in the front row today. And _damn_ was she feisty."

"Eh?" Grimmjow's ears shot up, "Which one?"

"The girl that kicked me into the chairs, of course," Hiroku answered, unaware that Grimmjow knows completely, who that girl was. "I hope she likes it rough in bed." He added as they walked outside to where Emma, Kiorii, and Ulquiorra were waiting.

"You're going to regret saying that, fucktard." Emma said in a low menacing voice. She heard every word he said from "damn was she feisty". And Emma was pissed off.

Hiroku walked closer to her. "I think you're just in denial." His hand reached out to cup Emma's cheeks when a pale hand grabbed his offending arm.

"Touch her and I can guarantee it will be the last thing you ever do." Kiorii threatened.

"Oh? What are ya gonna do? Suffocate me with your tits?"

"You better apologize to her, trash," Ulquiorra stated in monotone. His usual stoic mask was about to crack.

"What are _you_ gonna do huh? Cut me with your razors?"

Grimmjow was obviously pissed off. But before the teal-haired teenager could react, Ulquiorra had hurled him to the cold cement ground. His foot on Hiroku's back, pinning him down and his hands twisting Hiroku's arms behind him, threatening to pop his arms out of its sockets.

Ulquiorra leaned low to whisper in Hiroku's ears, "You either apologize or I will pop your arms out of their sockets and break every bone in your body." He demonstrated by pulling Hiroku's arms roughly.

Hiroku can feel his arms about to be yanked out of their sockets as he struggled to try and escape, but to no use. "Shit! I'm sorry ya happy?"

Ulquiorra released his arms from his death-grip and removed his foot from Hiroku's back.

"That was completely unnecessary." Kiorii said flatly as she looked at Grimmjow before refocusing her attention on Hiroku as he got up and ran away. "One word to Daddy and he'd be done for."

"…"

"Feel free to interpret that any way you wish." Kiorii smiled innocently.

"So… where to?"

"I think I'm gonna head home." Grimmjow replied with a yawn.

"Oh. Okay," Kiorii gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Then I guess I'll see you at school Monday."

"Bye," Grimmjow returned the kiss before he left to find his car in the parking lot.

"Ulquiorra, how come you didn't drive your car?" Emma asked – the question suddenly floated in her head.

"I enjoy walking."

As the three of them walked home, Ulquiorra walked silently, pondering. Why did he feel so sick inside every time Kiorii and Grimmjow were together? It can't be jealously, can it? There's no way he was jealous of Grimmjow but could he have been jealous of his cousin? Ulquiorra quickly shook his head and dismissed the questions. No way.

"Well, we're here." Emma announced, breaking Ulquiorra from his thoughts as they arrived back to their street.

"Kiorii, make sure you call if you're not staying at Emma's home again so I can—"

"No worries Ulquiorra." Emma interrupted, "I always have a spare pajama and futon ready. Besides, it's like a second home to her and I'm always prepared if something goes wrong, if you know what I mean." She said with a glance at her handbag—her handgun, always loaded and always prepared, just in case.

Kiorii waved as the three parted directions. And as soon as Emma closed the door behind her the two ran up to Emma's room, where Emma quickly took out her dark-purple laptop. As the laptop started up, she flipped open her cell phone to where Nnoitora's text message was.

"Hm… you know where this is?" Kiorii asked as she examined the address.

"It seems familiar," Emma replied as she began to search for the address.

After a few minutes, the laptop beeped signaling the end of the search as it downloaded the results.

Ema's face paled as her eyes grew wide, "No fucking way."

The said address was deep in downtown Tokyo.

In the red light district.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**A/N:**

**Well, I decided to cast Aizen in a new light since most UlquixGrimm fanfics, Aizen's the big (fat) meanie. Did you enjoy the flashbacks? :D lol. **

**Frankly, I think this fanfic is finally starting to take flight xD (I hope you're satisfied with this Emmie xD)**

**Just on a side note, the 'Cifer/Schiffer' and 'Jaegerjaquez/Jeagerjaques'... to be frank, I don't really care. They are only last names of fictional characters, therefore, please refrain from sending me messages about it (ex: "It's CIFER not SCHIFFER you dumb bitch") The previous quote was from an private message I got a few days back and frankly, I find it amusing that people are so obsessive over fictional characters. Aside from the complaints being a fairly good source of lulz for me (and probably quite a few other people), they are quite annoying. And to be honest, Japanese-romanization will almost always be different. Take my name "Heidi" for example in Japanese it would be written as "ハイディ" and if you directly Japanese-romanize it it's "Haidi". But what ever. It's not like the world will fall apart if I use either way -.-"**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **

**As for the next chapter...well, thanks to my lack of "planning ahead" I cant really say heehee ^^; But I do smell trouble coming up lol (*sniffs air* Vanilla... yum...)**

**But thank you for reading/reviewing/faving/alerting to this story! **

**Love you all!**

**~LR**

**And to those that dont know what I meant by "the red light district":**

_**A red-light district is a neighborhood or a part of a neighborhood where businesses connected to the sex industry (brothels and all that stuff). In some red light districts, prostitution may legally take place; other red light districts are known for their illegal prostitution scene. **_

_**One of the many terms used for a red-light district in Japanese is akasen, literally meaning "red-line". Japanese police drew a red line on maps to indicate the boundaries of legal red-light districts. NOT a place for students. **_

**_Students caught in the boundaries of the red-light district (In Japan) can face many harsh consequences depending on the severity of their actions - sometimes even leading to arrest by the police or even expulsion from school. (As seen in Fruits Baskets)_**


	4. Enigma

**Author's Note: I'm back ^^ So... this is another fairly long chapter and it takes off where the previous chapter left off xD. And a big thanks to **_ElementistMagicAkua _**for helping me with some clothes descriptions. Since in all truth, I can barely tell the difference between a blouse and a dress-shirt... much less describe them. And if I just flat out say "oh yeah... it's by this brand and blah blah blah" I doubt anyone would figure it out. *Mauled for fail* **

**So this chapter was fairly long for two reasons: One I squeezed in lots of stuff. But mainly... Two: I couldnt find a good place to stop hahaha xD**

**Thank you **_HanakoAnimeAddict_ **for being so quick and efficient in betaing this. :)**

**I DO NOT OWN BLEACH! **

**dont forget ERR! (Enjoy, Read, Review) HAHA... Haha... haa**

* * *

"Please tell me you're kidding," Kiorii groaned as she sat on Emma's bed, her face in her hands. "How are we supposed to go there? It's forbidden for high-school students… And if we get caught, we'll be in so much trouble. Daddy would literally _kill_ me." _If Gin doesn't get me first…_

"Which is why we _won't_ get caught," Emma replied as she closed her laptop. Her violet eyes sparkled with mischief, "We just need some decent disguises is all."

"Do tell," Kiorii instantly sat up, her interest rising.

"Well, since you're going to dye your hair black…" Emma began to think. _Some temporary hair dye for the both of us, clothes that we'd probably never wear in public… makeup… hm… this was harder than I thought._

"Emma?" Kiorii chimed in, questioning the sudden silence.

"Hm? Oh nothing, I'm just thinking… what if we disguised ourselves as foreigners, tourists maybe? And since you're so good with makeup and that sorts, I think we can pull it off. Making us look older maybe?"

"And if a police officer shows up and ask us for identification?"

"We'll just pretend we don't understand what he's talking about. Like I said: _foreigners_."

"But – "

"What size shoes do you wear?" Emma cut her off.

"Um… why?"

"Grab your purse. We're going shopping."

..0

Ulquiorra sat on the living room couch where Kiorii's school bag still leaned against. A sheet of paper poked out of the unclosed book bag. Out of sheer curiosity, Ulquiorra took it out and had a good look at it.

_Huh? An application?_ Ulquiorra remembered the principal announcing something like that a day ago. But the application was completely blank.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open, startling Ulquiorra and making him jump a little as Kiorii rushed in and ran upstairs to her room. She came out a few minutes later with her purse.

"Where are you going?"

"Shopping." And Kiorii ran out, "I'll work on that application when we get back." She called back as she closed the door and ran back to Emma's house.

..0

"Okay, I'm back!" Kiorii announced as she reentered Emma's house, panting a little due to her short distance sprint.

"Well, just in case people get suspicious, I have those clothes Mom and Dad keep buying for me that I'd never wear. We can wear those. That way, no one would recognize us."

"Um…" Kiorii pointed at Emma's hair, "Your hair is unique enough to identify yourself, no?"

"Damn, right…um…" Emma took out her small mirror and studied her hair, "Hand me that small comb and bobby pins would ya? It's on the table."

Kiorii quickly got off the bed to retrieve the said items and stood and watched as Emma took those purple strands on her side, tucked it behind her ear, pinning it with the bobby pins and swepted her brown hair over them, hiding them securely.

"What do you think?"

"It'll work. Temporarily," Kiorii stated blandly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"That's the idea," Emma replied, "Some temporary hair dye outta do the trick for both of us."

Emma went to her closet digging though the pile of untouched European clothes her parents send her over the years.

"When _are_ your parents coming back, Emma?" Kiorii asked, "It's been almost a month, though I don't doubt the possibility of them being away for more than two months at a time."

"Well… this is what I get for having parents that travel a lot thanks to their job right?"

"Don't you miss them?"

"Of course I do. Sometimes I wish they would just get a job here and stay longer…but its times like these that I'm pretty grateful for their constant traveling, ya know?"

"True." Kiorii agreed.

"And about your skin…"

"Oh yeah," Kiorii remembered as she looked at her pale arms. Apparently, according to what her mom used to tell her, it was a hereditary skin disorder that disrupted the pigments in the skin. In times like this, it's quite annoying.

"Don't worry," Emma said as she tossed a pair of denim short-shorts and a form-fitting pink t-shirt at her, "Put those on."

"But –"

"But what?"

"I'll look like a slut…" Kiorii mumbled quietly, blushing slightly as she looked at the clothes Emma gave her.

Emma sighed with a hint of frustration, "The point is to make sure we _don't_ look like ourselves and wear stuff that we would _never_ wear so go put them on. I know I have some of those skin-whatcha-call-it-pills from Szayel left…"

Kiorii trudged to the bathroom and slowly changed out of her white lacey blouse and replaced it with the form-fitting t-shirt. She frowned as she studied herself in the mirror before taking off her black, white-laced skirt and put on the shorts. Truth be told, even though she was aware of the fact that she's wearing clothes, she felt naked and exposed. She exited the bathroom and returned to Emma's bedroom, frowning.

Emma, in the mean time, changed her clothes as well, a pink mid-thigh skort (short + skirt) with a white semi-casual shirt and a loosely tied pink tie. Kiorii swore her right eye twitched.

"Here," Emma tossed her a small pill bottle. "Just take one and it should work. It should darken the pigment in your skin a little."

Kiorii did as she was told as Emma took apart her blonde pigtails and combed her hair. Having curled her hair in the morning, it was wavy but oh well.

As the pill worked its magic, Kiorii's skin became less deathly pale and had a healthier normal color, though still quite fair. T_hat should draw attention away from us_.

"Well? What do you think?" Kiorii stood up and spun slowly in a circle.

"One thing's for sure, even _I_ can't recognize you now." Emma answered with a small giggle. She walked to a dresser drawer and took out two pairs of sunglasses, handing one pair to Kiorii and put the other pair on. "There!" Emma exclaimed, admiring her work, "I think we're good to go!"

"One problem; Ulqui-nii might be looking out of the window."

"Who said anything about the front door? We're sneaking out through the backyard." Emma went back to her closet as she searched through her shoes, withdrawing with two pairs of white thin heels. "You know how to wear heels right?"

Kiorii nodded silently as she walked downstairs to where the door leading to the backyard was. She hoped this plan of theirs would work. Otherwise, not only did they face expulsion, they might even face arrest. _There's no use backing out now…_Kiorii looked at her reflection on the window glass and put on the pair of sunglasses Emma lent her, covering her emerald-green eyes. _Now what's taking her so long?_ She looked through her white leather purse to make sure she had everything she needed, including her cell-phone and credit card. Looks like she's going to have to make a big withdraw today, not that anyone would notice.

Meanwhile, Emma grabbed her dark-purple purse and double-checked to make sure her handgun was loaded with some extra bullets in a small compartment in her purse, making sure the safety lock was secure before walking downstairs, with one hand carrying the pair of white heels.

"So… what's the plan?" Emma asked as she came to the bottom of the stairs, noticing Kiorii staring outside.

"Well, I suppose we climb the fence when the coast is clear…" Kiorii's voice drifted away as she became deep in thought. "Emma," She turned to look at her behind her sunglasses, "How much German do you remember?"

"Eh?"

"Well, you said we needed to act like tourists and in case something happens and we need to communicate in a foreign language lest we get caught."

"Good point… I guess my German's decent enough, sorta, as long as you don't go all complicated on me."

"_If you say so_," Kiorii replied in German.

"Okay I understood that."

"_I'm sorry, I do not understand what you are saying," _Kiorii said with a teasing smile as she opened the door leading to the backyard. Emma locked the door after stepping out.

Kiorii studied the height of the fence. No way in hell were they able to climb so high. Something just seems to always get in their way. She bit her lower lip in frustration before feeling a soft tap on her shoulder; she turned around to see Emma silently signaling her to follow her. When she did, Emma parted a small bush to reveal a small opening, then she put her hand through, lifted the wooden plank that was nailed to the wooden frame and pushed it aside, revealing an opening large enough for them to squeeze through.

"You're always full of surprises." Kiorii stated as she slid though the opening.

"_I'm sorry, what did you say?"_ Emma slid out after her and gently put the loose plank back to its original position.

"_Where should we go though?"_

"_Well, there are all these crazy western gothic stores we can check out."_

The two quickly slipped on their shoes and walked quietly to the nearest bus stop.

oxoxoxoxoxoxox

Meanwhile, Ulquiorra sat in the living room couch with a nice cup of tea on the small coffee table as he studied a book when the telephone rang, snapping him out of his concentration.

With a hint of frustration, he quickly glanced at the page number before closing the book, returning it to the bookshelf before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Hello, may I know whom I am talking to?"_

"…Who might this be?"

"_Oh, my apologies; I suppose Kiorii never mentioned me."_ The mysterious voice stated with a light chuckle. "_I am Il Forte Granz, her legal guardian, while she was in Germany –_ _since her father is constantly on business trips here and there,_ _after her mother passed away."_

"I see…"

A pause, _"Well, I take Kiorii is not available at the moment?"_

"You are correct." Ulquiorra replied in monotone.

"_Then please inform her, when you have the chance, that I will be in Japan for a few weeks and I'd like to check up on her."_

"Of course."

Ulquiorra hung up the phone and sat back down on the couch. Kiorii never mentioned having a legal guardian – though she hardly mentions anything during her return to Germany, but for someone like that to call out of the blue? Looks like he's going to have to have a stern talk with her when she gets back. He began to rub his temples. He can feel another migraine coming up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As the bus brought them to their first stop, Kiorii and Emma stepped out of the semi-crowded public transportation. They walked to an ATM machine as Kiorii whipped out her credit card and began to make a large withdraw.

"Hm… how much money do you think we might need anyway?" Kiorii mutter under her breath.

Emma only shrugged, her violet eyes hidden behind her sunglasses as she scanned the vicinity.

"I'm not going to make another withdrawal after this." Kiorii proceeded to enter a random number, "You think a million yen would be enough?"

"Sure… though I don't think we'll buy _that_ much things."

"Better safe than sorry right?" Kiorii asked as she split the money evenly amongst each other.

After completing their first task, they began their shopping quest. First entering a hair-specialist store, they scanned the entire hair-product section. While Kiorii bought some black hair-dye, Emma looked at the temporary colors that the store displayed in – in all crazy shades and colors.

After a few minutes of indecisiveness, Emma grabbed a dark purple and a blood red color and threw it into the shopping basket and proceeded to the checkout line, where Kiorii stood waiting with her small paper bag, having already made her purchase.

As they headed towards the closest cosmetics store, they found colored contact lenses that sat neatly on display shelves.

"_You think this might come in handy?"_ Emma whispered to Kiorii in German.

"_Yes they would,"_ Kiorii said as she browsed through the different colors,_ "Though I cannot say whether they are actually safe to wear or not._ _But why not?"_

After they made their purchase, the two walked outside, each holding their share of bags.

"_So… where to now?"_

"_Hm… there's a Western Goth shop around the block somewhere…"_ Emma answered as she looked around.

"_Lead the way."_

.0,,,0.

Grimmjow lied in bed, his body shifted so he could look out the window of his moderately sized room, wearing nothing but his light blue boxers. Hell, he was still tired as fuck but no matter how much his body wanted—no demanded—rest, his mind just doesn't seem to want to comply. To add on to his restlessness, he remembered the way Ulquiorra turned away from him as their eyes met… maybe he acted too fast… too much on impulse.

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the image. He was with his cousin now; they looked so much alike, every time he held her, it was like holding Ulquiorra—_Wait! What?_ Grimmjow quickly sat up, shocked. _What the fuck did I just…_ Could it be that he was actually trying to use Kiorii to get closer to the person that pushed him away?

Grimmjow laid back down, his hands rubbing his eyes; he can feel the soreness in his arms. Maybe he over did it… His mind reflected back to the tournament. The way Ulquiorra pinned that idiot Hiroku down, Grimmjow remembered, was so sexy—then again, everything about him was. _Dammit!_ He mentally kicked himself. Hell, Ulquiorra loved his cousin like a sister and he's with Emma… there was no point chasing after someone like that; one sided love hurts…

But he can still hope can't he?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Emma and Kiorii, after completing their shopping quest, sat on the bus completely exhausted. Who knew shopping can be so draining. As the bus arrived at their stop, they quickly jumped out and began walking back to Emma's backyard, going back the way the left. Emma went in first while Kiorii handed the bags to her one after another before she walked through. They took off their heels and ran upstairs to Emma's room.

"Please let me change out of this," Kiorii begged with a small moan as she looked at her exposed legs – attempting to cover them with her shopping bags.

"Yeah, sure," Emma rummaged through her closet – locating the outfit Kiorii arrived in, and handed it back to her.

Kiorii immediately snatched it, dropped her shopping bags and ran to the restroom to change.

Meanwhile, Emma rummaged through the plethora of items they bought through the entire ordeal: some crazy colored hair-dye, crazy-looking platform boots with some dangerously-high thin heels, and a strapless hot-pink and black dress with a ragged hem for her. And, as Emma waited for Kiorii to finish changing, she attempted to take a peek at what crazy outfit Kiorii bought. But before she could, she heard the click of the restroom lock as Kiorii reappeared in her lacy blouse, skirt and knee-high socks. The pill has begun to wear off as her skin returned to a deathly pale. She handed the t-shirt, shorts, and glasses back to Emma.

"So what do we do now?" Kiorii asked as she did so.

"Well, it's not until tomorrow so… Oh yeah! Did you get crackin' on that application form yet?"

"Not yet. I suppose I can keep myself busy until tomorrow." Kiorii looked at the multiple shopping bags that littered Emma's bedroom floor, "Is it alright if I left everything here? It would not be a good thing if Ulquiorra found a whiff of any of this."

"Sure, why not. But you _did_ tell Ulquiorra that you were going shopping right?"

Kiorii slowly nodded.

"Then you should probably take some of the stuff back, in case he gets suspicious, ya know?"

Emma searched though the piles of shopping bags until she found the one with her black hair-dye and the dress.

"Then I shall see you tomorrow evening." Kiorii said as she put on her more comfortable shoes. She opened the front door and walked back to her own home.

=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=

Ulquiorra still sat in the living room, returning to the book he was previously reading until the sudden phone call when Kiorii slowly opened the door.

"I'm back," She announced quietly, clutching the shopping bags close to her.

Ulquiorra closed his book with quiet acknowledgement before turning his attention to his cousin.

"Someone called today asking for you, a man by the name of Il Forte Granz, care to explain?"

He crossed his arms in front of his chest as his emerald eyes bore into hers.

"Oh really?" Kiorii asked in surprise, "I never thought I'd hear from him again…" Her voice drifted to silence.

"So who exactly is he?" Ulquiorra began interrogating.

"Well…" Kiorii said slowly, "He's _technically_ my legal guardian."

"…" His silence signaled her to continue.

Kiorii sucked in a deep breath before exhaling, "Can I put these in my room first?"

"Fine."

Kiorii slowly walked upstairs, with Ulquiorra following closely behind her. She opened the door to her bedroom and put the bags in her closet before she jumped on her bed, her face buried in her pillows. _Who knew shopping can be so draining?_

"Hey, you better not fall asleep on me while we're in the middle of a conversation." Ulquiorra yanked the pillow away from under her playfully, a mischievous grin on his face as Kiorii gave him an irritated stare.

Ulquiorra sat on the far end of the bed, his legs crossed with his arms around the large, fluffy, pink pillow.

Kiorii, nonetheless, complied as she sat up facing him. She took a deep breath and began to tell her story.

~Flashback in Kiorii's POV~

"After Mama died, there was a point in my life that involved lots of traveling around since Daddy took me everywhere. But when he realized what all those long trips and moving around, it wasn't doing me any good – socially or academically. So… he decided to hire a caretaker for me in the event that he needs to go on long business trips and so I can stay back home in Germany the entire time. So Daddy began looking for a suitable caretaker for me, promising quite the sum of money as well, which involved countless interviews and hours of needless irritation.

"After three weeks into it, Daddy was, to my relief, finally on the verge of giving up, but Il Forte Granz showed up. He was polite enough and wasn't physically repulsive—just finished law school—and he was really nice, and he treated me like a little sister from day one. And he wasn't selfish either; I remember him saying that he needed the money to support his little brother who's going to go into college or something… Daddy liked him too so he hired him.

"When Il Forte moved into the home, I got really scared since he was still a complete stranger and I was, in short, a complete brat; screaming, tantrums, you name it. But he was patient; he would wait until I was completely tired from my screaming and yelling, and scold me a few times but he never raised his voice at me. He was also smart—enough that for the first two years I was in Germany, I was being homeschooled by him. Daddy was pleased with my progress. But Gin… he assumed the pretense that I was not as social as other people my age and made me go to an all girls' boarding school. It was the most horrendous experience I have ever had. I don't think I want to go into details on this particular story just yet…

"And so when Daddy got your phone call, asking him if I can stay and live in Japan with you, I almost died of joy. I would have literally jumped off a cliff to get away from that horrid place. The last time I ever seen or heard from him was the day Il Forte and his brother drove the three of us to the airport. That was almost two years ago…"

~End Flashback/POV~

"So… he took care of you back then…" Ulquiorra said thoughtfully, "But I still don't understand why he would try to contact you so suddenly."

"Me neither."

"Do you think it might be something urgent?"

"I don't think so… or Daddy would have called my cell phone."

"So… what do they look like?"

"Huh?"

"What does Il Forte and his brother look like?" Ulquiorra repeated the question with more clarification.

"Oh… um let's see… Il Forte had blonde hair and … well, I'll know him when I see him. His brother… I don't even remember his name since I only saw him once. But he left a pretty big impression."

"How so?"

"…His…hair…" She mumbled quietly – averting her cousin's gaze.

As she said that, Ulquiorra burst out in laughter, and he tried to stifle it by burying his face in her pillow.

"I think I'm going to go downstairs," Kiorii said as she climbed off her bed, "I still have that application to finish."

* * *

Kiorii woke up startled—as her eyes searched frantically around the familiar space of her own room. The sun has yet to rise. Her hands clutched around her arms as she tried to calm herself down, her body covered in cold-sweat. _Nightmares…_she scoffed at herself, _how pathetic—to be reduced to such a condition all because of a dream…_

She opened a small drawer and searched for her bottle of medication. Her hand wrapped around a small container, which she shook a couple of times._ Looks like there's only two more left_… Kiorii thought to herself as she felt something odd in the pit of her stomach. She just _really_ didn't like dealing with this Szayel person…_But nonetheless…_

She looked at a small digital clock on the small lamp-desk next to her bed: 4:50am – not that it really mattered. Szayel just never really seemed to sleep.

She felt around the room, looking for her purse, dug out her cell phone and called the loathed number.

"Hello, _mon_ _cher,_ you're up awfully early today," The familiar voice answered casually, "Could it be that you're out of the sleeping medication already?"

"That would be the _only_ time I'd call you isn't it?" Kiorii snapped back at him in a loud whisper, attempting to keep the voice level down.

"I see…" There was a long pause, "This is getting quite worrisome you know? You can't expect to live off of those pills forever." The usually casual tone disappeared.

"Since when have you ever cared about the well-being of your customers?" Kiorii was becoming very irritated.

There was another long pause as she heard the sound of paper flipping, "Fine… I'll keep a note telling Tesla and Nnoitra to carry some more to you… then."

The phone clicked dead. As Kiorii hung up her cell-phone, she looked at the semi-translucent pill container with the two pills. She opened the container and popped one into her mouth and returned the bottle back to its original place in the drawer. She didn't really care if she would sleep though most of the morning – she finished the application before she went to bed. And the pill was the only thing that drove those nightmares away.

-,-

,-,-,

-,-,-,-,-,-

Emma sighed as she checked herself in the mirror. The strapless hot pink and black dress with the intentional ragged hem she had bought yesterday fit her well enough; it was just the matter of surviving the Red-light district. As she looked through her closet for matching accessories, she glanced at the clock. It was almost 8:00pm.

As she completed her outfit, she spun once and watched the floating fabric rise before settling down again. Adjusting her fingerless gloves and black metal bangles, she double checked that her fishnets didn't have a run and her black velvet choker with the jeweled butterfly dangling from it was perfect. Kiorii would be over any moment to assist with makeup and get changed herself-an advantage to being an only child with travelling parents-she didn't have to worry about nosey siblings or parents. Going to her closet, she tilted her head, debating between the black ankle boots with the hot pink design on them and flats.

Kiorii closed the door behind her as she exited the house clutching her school bag with everything she needed stuffed tightly inside. She felt bad lying to Ulquiorra about where she was going, a 'sleepover at Emma's for another late-night 'study session'' she had said, when instead she would be heading into the red-light district. Dashing across the street, she let herself in, slipped off her shoes and dashed up the stairs, her dress clutched to her chest. It was a semi modest corset dress with spaghetti straps and a slightly puffed skirt, but that was just from the layers of gauzy material that made up the skirt. The dark green laces crisscrossed and secured her top closed, though they both decided that in order to fit in, the panel that the laces crisscrossed over would have to go, letting a taste of her chest and stomach to be seen. To make up for it, Emma had shortened her skirt so it was showing quite a bit more leg than it had intended.

They studied each other in the mirror.

"And I thought I looked like a slut before…" Kiorii began, "This is _beyond_ disturbing."

"True… but we have about an hour left… Hurry up and help me do my make up!"

0ososososososososososo0

Once they were completely finished, they both turned a slow 360 degree—studying themselves in every angle possible. Kiorii, thanks to her still-blonde hair, was able to use the temporary hair-dye and dye her hair a fiery red color and Emma's a dark purple. And using the colored contacts, Kiorii's eyes, after putting on a pair of blue contacts, turquoise, not that anyone would really notice since it's night time, but one must always be cautious. And in a poor attempt to cover more skin… Kiorii borrowed Emma's platform boots – though in retrospect… it didn't really do all that much for her.

The two of them, after going through the near-routine check to make sure everything they need; they had, the two of them, once again, snuck out the backyard and waited for the bus.

-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-

As the bus arrived at their stop, the two stepped off nervously at their surroundings. The red lights from the buildings hurt their eyes a little before their eyes adjusted. An odd smell filled the air – a mix between smoke, sweat, and other repulsive things… all mixed in one.

"_Please let this be quick and over soon,"_ Kiorii prayed.

"_It should be here somewhere…"_ Emma said to herself as she studied the small map she had printed out. They walked through twists and turns as they followed the map until they stopped at a large building with blinding neon lights. Great… of all the places in the red-light district –

Two people walked out of the building as Kiorii and Emma approached. They were close enough to pick up on some of their conversation.

"I told you meeting them here was a stupid idea! What were you thinking?"

"Tch… Calm down Tesla, there's no way in fucking hell I'm wasting the one day-off I get without having some fun."

"You call this fun?" Emma interrupted their conversation, "If it weren't for the fact that there are quite a few people here, I'd probably strangle you for making us go through the trouble."

"Well well…" Nnoitra said as he studied the two high-school girls before him. "I didn't recognize either one of you…"

"Are you retarded?" Emma hissed, "You think we'd prance around here in our school uniforms or something?"

"Please just hurry up and let's just get this over with already." Kiorii began to rub her temples, great… another headache.

"Exactly."

"Then please follow us," Tesla said as he opened the door and led the way as Emma and Kiorii followed them inside.

As they stepped through the door, the sound of techno music pounded in their ears. And the smell… they couldn't tell what it was. Kiorii wrinkled her nose in disgust. _I can't do this…_ She began to turn around and walk out of the place.

"Hm? Where's she going?" Nnoitra asked as he spotted Kiorii attempting to walk out.

"She doesn't like it here, though I can't say I blame her," Emma replied, "I'll get her…"

Kiorii felt a hand grab her arm. "What are you doing?" Emma hissed, "The sooner we're through, the faster we can go back."

"Right…" Kiorii let herself be pulled along as they walked further inside to the dimly lit, building, up a flight of stairs before the four of them arrived in what seemed to be rooms…

As Nnoitra took out a key and unlocked the room, Emma and Kiorii noticed that it was more of a private room with a small balcony that overlooked the stage and bar… great; strippers and pole-dancers…_This can't get any worse; please don't get any worse_. Kiorii silently prayed as they walked inside as Tesla flipped the switch, allowing for a little more light than the flashing lights that flashed in time with the deafening music. The room itself was simply furnished – a low table was set in the middle of two large sofas in the center of the room with cabinets lining the walls. A small booklet that resembled a menu of some sort was in the middle of the table.

"Why don't you two have a seat?" Nnoitra motioned the two to sit as he examined the menu.

Emma sat down opposite the two men as she glared at Nnoitra impatiently while Kiorii only stared at the furniture.

"Kiorii come on!"

"…Are you sure it's clean—" Emma pulled Kiorii down on the sofa beside her as Kiorii let out a small yelp at the sudden jesture.

"Will you just hurry the fuck up?" Emma was beginning to lose her patience as she continued to stare at Nnoitra – still staring at the menu…

The door opened behind them suddenly, making Kiorii and Emma turn in reflex, to see a very drunken man caring a top-less, giggling girl in his arms.

"Shit… wrong woom…" The man managed to blur out. Kiorii quickly turned around – her face bright red – and squirmed in her seat.

"What was that?" Kiorii asked innocently referring to the sudden intrusion.

"Well," Tesla attempted to explain, "that young lady is what you would call a prostitute and the man is just a customer."

"How disgusting," Emma made a face.

"Ya know… there are guys that do that too ya know?" Nnoitra interrupted as he got up, "I'll call one up and show you…"

"To hell you are!" Emma yelled as she got up and chased after the retreating Nnoitra, in an attempt to stop him. As the door closed behind the two, Kiorii and Tesla sat there silently until Tesla took something out of his jacket pocket.

"Here are the pills," Tesla said as he handed her the bottle, "I really advise you to—"

"I don't think it really matters at this point," Kiorii cut him off as she quickly jammed it into her bag.

A few minutes later, the door slammed open as Nnoitra walked back in screaming with laughter as Emma walked in, her face hinted pink and her eyes downcast. Nnoitra beat her to reception and by the time she caught up with him, it was already too late. They were already sending someone on the way.

"So… tell me…" Kiorii asked hesitantly as she reached into her bag and popped open the bottle with her newly obtained pills, "How does it all work?"

"Simple," Nnoitra began, "Ya simply pay by the hour the whores around here anyway. They do whatever ya tell 'em ta do," He paused, "Do I need to go further?"

"No." Emma quickly said.

"But suppose one of them…_expires_… " Kiorii began to ask another question as she slipped out a small pill into her hand.

"If they died while they were with ya, the store will simply replace them." Nnoitra answered,

"No penalty fee or anything," Tesla added, "What are you getting at?"

"Oh… nothing." Kiorii answered with an angelic tone.

There was a knock at the door, "You have requested my services?" A voice called from the other side.

"Door's unlocked." With that said, the door opened revealing a young man with messy brown hair and light-blue eyes, around his early twenties, with a well-toned body, an open shirt and shorts – exposing his muscular legs.

"How can I be of service, sir?" He said with a bow.

"Why don't you ask those two?" Nnoitra pointed at Emma and Kiorii with a sneer.

Kiorii didn't know about Emma but she was as sure as hell getting more irritated and annoyed with the intrusions. Kiorii took a shaky deep breath before attempting to do a bit of acting.

"Why don't you get us all some vodka?" Kiorii said with a small smirk as she looked into the man-whore's eyes. "I'll take care of any payments."

"Yes Miss." The man walked to one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle as he poured them into martini glasses and distributed them to everyone. Emma gave Kiorii a little nudge, asking her just what the fuck was she doing?

"Where's yours?" Kiorii asked the man as he sat down in between Emma and herself.

"We are not allowed to—"

"Nonsense!" Kiorii declared as she stood up and walked to the same cabinet, opening it and pulling out another bottle, finding another martini glass and poured the vodka in. Before she turned around, she dropped the small pill she hid in her hand into the drink, which quickly dissolved, before returning and handing him the glass.

"Here," Kiorii said as she handed the guy the spiked vodka, "I tend to like guys that can actually hold down their liquor," she lied, "So you better drink up." Beside him, Emma slowly shook her head as she lifted her glass to her lips and pretended to take a sip.

He hesitantly took his first few sips before finishing the drink. _Finally… now to wait for that pill to work its magic…_

A few minutes later, he collapsed on the sofa.

"What the fuck did you do?" Nnoitra exclaimed in alarm.

"I spiked his drink," Kiorii answered calmly. "Whether that trash lives or dies is none of my concern. So let's hurry up and get down to the business we came here to do." She pushed the unresponsive form of the man onto the floor with a small thud.

"Tch. Fine," Nnoitra, "So ya want some sort of 'custom-made' Aphrodisiac correct?"

"Yes," Kiorii simply answered, "I would like it if _this_ one was to stimulate the body and work with it without harmful side effects."

"So something that triggers the body to produce the correct chemical that will, in turn, trigger the …" Tesla's voice drifted away as he became deep in thought.

"Yes, since I'm well aware that the two existing types of aphrodisiac you currently possess is ecstasy-based." Kiorii answered.

"How long do you think it's gonna take?" Emma asked.

"It all depends; it can be a few weeks, months…" Nnoitra answered with a shrug.

"Just be grateful that I am offering to fund this myself," Kiorii murmered as she took out a small booklet of empty checks and a pen. "So how much do you think he'll need to start this off? How about 100,000 yen?"

"Eh," was Nnoitra's only response, as Kiorii handed him the completed check. As the four stood up and began leaving, Tesla walked over to the unconscious man on the floor, feeling for a pulse.

"He's still alive…"

"Hm… what a shame," Nnoitra chuckled, "I think it would have been nicer if you just killed him straight off, Kiorii."

"How so?" She raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"The owner here… can be quite violent if… oh, let's just say, an employee _sleeps_ on the job."

"That is none of my concern." The four exited the building and parted ways.

"Do you two wanna ride back?"

"Nah, I don't want anyone suspecting or seeing how we snuck outside like this." Emma answered for the both of them.

"I don't want to have to deal with unnecessary attention," Kiorii added, "After all, we still have school tomorrow. I don't want to start the week with a police interrogation."

"Then we'll keep in touch," Nnoitra said as he left with Tesla. Kiorii and Emma quickly ran to catch the last bus for the day. It was 3 am...

* * *

**A/N: Okay you know what... Kiorii is starting to creep me out -,- and yes MOAR flashbacks! (It's every author's ace in the hole for tying up loose ends hahahahahaaa xD *gets punched in stomach*)**

**And as of today, there's less than three weeks of school left - meaning end-of-the-year projects and (Dun Dun DUN!) Finals x.x So I guess my BIG project on here would have to wait. Oh well :\**

**Until next time! ^.^**

**oxox**

**~LR**


	5. Nightmare

**Hi everyone! Erm... Sorry about my almost-two-month-long "disappearance" the laptop I was using in Europe (it was awesome by the way xD) died on me 'cause some idiot decided to post a link in my formspring and it was a virus and my laptop died...It wasn't exactly the smartest thing I've ever done...**

**Anyways, as soon as my Europe trip was over, it's band camp! (I'm a world-class band geek xD) So I've been busy. And since school's starting for quite a few people, I'm gonna let my beta take a break for a while... so what's been posted has been (poorly) edited by me xD *shot***

**And if you all remember; Kiorii has..."Nightmares" and well, this is more of a chapter focusing on that since it's important to my plot - what her twisted little mind is like when she sleeps xD. heehee... so I apologize for any of you out there that gets nightmares after this chapter (I had to edit some of the crazier stuff out after a long decision since I got nightmares =.=) I hope when I update again, it wont take almost three months...but I dont see the future so please bear with me. ^^; Senior year and all that (I'm old )**

**As always, Thanks for all the people that read and faved and all that stuff for all of my fics xD. I dont own Bleach. And I hope you like it :).**

* * *

_Great; another exhausting day is over._ Kiorii thought as she laid in bed, dressed in her ivory pajamas. She closed her eyes and did a recap of what had happened…

It was a bright, sunny day – her least favorite– and the sun's blinding rays of sun made her extremely irritable. Especially since neither she nor Emma got any sleep the night before. They both had dark circles under their eyes, and a blank stare as they dragged themselves to school. The two of them were lucky enough to arrive at school with just enough time to spare to turn in Kiorii's application form before getting to their classrooms.

Kiorii had sat in her usual seat in the far back corner of the classroom that was right next to the window. And as usual, she pretended to pay attention as the teacher began another dull lesson. But as the day dragged on slowly, the lunch bell rang. To her further dismay, the teacher held her inside the classroom talking to her about her application form, when she would much rather be sleeping somewhere. She still remembered most of the conversation – whatever was relevant anyway:

"Kiorii… about your application…" The teacher began hesitantly, "I highly doubt your chances of being accepted…"

"And why is that, Sensei?"

"Well, typically, first years never have the specific qualifications in order to be accepted into something like this…"

"I see…" Kiorii began to walk towards the door.

"However, as to be expected from someone of your stature, your application was more than qualified, Aiz – " The teacher noticed the cold, deathlike stare and quickly shut up.

"You will never, _never_ address me that way again. Understand? I think I made it clear for everyone before my first day here. No?" KIorii's voice was about to lose its calm tone.

"My m-mistake," The teacher bowed apologetically.

"Is that all you have to discuss with me?" Kiorii mentally rolled her eyes as she changed the topic.

"Yes."

"Hm…" Kiorii looked at the clock that was slowly ticking away in the background. There was only a few minutes left; no use to walk out there now. Kiorii slowly made her way back to her desk.

_How pathetic…_ her eyes slowly closed as she fell asleep. The bottle of medication in her drawer remained untouched as she slowly fell asleep. She was just too exhausted to do anything else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (**A/N: **Before reading ahead - here's a bit of explination... since this is all a 'dream', and the lack of font choices... everything in '_' is thought. "_" is actual dialogue. So that's something I want to clear up. Everything else is description. Good luck xD)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'_Where am I?_' _Kiorii woke up to find herself in a metal room, covered in frost and foggy from the cold. She tried to get up but something restrained her and she fell back down with a soft thud._

'_Right…I'm tied up…' Kiorii looked around the room and found Ulquiorra lying on the ground beside her; the side of his head was crusted with blood – definitely from a heavy head wound. His arms and legs were also tied up. Kiorii nudged him with her arm as she struggled to untie herself._

"_Wake up Ulquiorra Please!" Her eyes widened as she noticed that none of them were shivering when this room was well below freezing temperature. She began to panic – their bodies were unable to maintain homeostasis…_

'_Wake up or we'll both die!'She nudged him harder with her arm and Ulquiorra, to her relief, slowly opened his eyes._

"_Where are we?"_

'_This was the place I've been dreaming about for…for months! But why?' Kiorii's hands found the knot that bounded her hands together and began to attempt to loosen, if not untie, it. Now was not time to wonder on such matters. They have to get out of here. _

_Kiorii recalled one of her first dreams about this place where Ulquiorra, unable to be woken up, had slowly frozen solid…No… they had to get out of this room. She gave a small sigh of relief as the ropes binding her hands gave away. She got up and untied Ulquiorra before dashing to the metal door that shut them in. Her fingers felt around for the key hole. 'It's here somewhere…Ah! Here!' She put one hand on top of the key hole – to make sure she doesn't lose her place while her other hand went to her hair and took out a small hair pin and began picking the lock. She had to hurry. She can feel her body becoming numb…_

_As the door unlocked with a soft click, she slowly pushed the door open and looked out – just as she remembers, there was a dimly lit hall way with so many doors…'one of them has to be the way out…' She motioned for Ulquiorra to follow her as they both exited their ice-prison._

_As of now, she had tried every door except three. And behind each door so far, was a scene more gruesome than the last – a girl whose body was torn limb from limb as she screamed and eventually drowned in her own blood; a rotting corpse that was half eaten away by vermins… she's seen them all._

'_Three more doors… okay… one of them has to be the exit…'The last door on her left or the two doors right in front? She debated with herself and decided to open the last door on her left. Bad idea._

_As soon as she opened the door, the two of them came face to face with a mob of shadowy figures._

"_Run!" Kiorii screamed, realizing her mistake, as they tried to escape. But those shadowy figures were too fast. As a mob of them tackled Ulquiorra, three individual figures managed to restrain Kiorii. As Kiorii struggled to free herself, the mob of people were trying to restrain Ulquiorra and when all but five parted from the mob, Ulquiorra was lying on the ground – his body; a bloody mess. His chest rose and fell as he took small, shallow, painful breaths._

'_No…' Kiorii's eyes began filling with tears at the sight. 'This can't be happening… it's just a dream…Wake up! WAKE UP!'_

_She could hear the sound of footsteps behind her as another person entered the now crowded hallway._

"_Bring our little princess over here. I wanna make sure she gets a good view of what happens when someone doesn't listen to their...superiors."_

"_Yes sir." The three men holding on to Kiorii dragged her towards Ulquiorra and she could see his beaten and battered face. His emerald eyes looked at her as his mouth twisted into a grimace from the pain that was inflicted on him._

"_Well, little girl," The apparent leader of the mob began, "my client originally requested that I don't physically harm either of you with weapons and what not… but I guess there's no choice…" Kiorii could hear the sound of a gun being loaded as the leader walked behind Ulquiorra._

"_What are you…?" Kiorii heard herself ask._

"_Isn't it obvious?" The leader knelt down behind Ulquiorra's field of vision and raised the gun and jammed the barrel against Ulquiorra's temple._

"_Don't…" Kiorii could feel her energy being drained away as tears began falling down her cheeks._

"_Too late for that…" He slowly cocked the gun._

"_Please…" Kiorii begged as she lowered her head… There's no way she could watch._

"_Pull her head up." The leader ordered, "I want to make sure she gets a very good view of this. Force her eyes open if you have too."_

"_DON'T!"_

_Ulquiorra closed his eyes as he laid helpless on the floor, accepting death._

"_NO!"_

_And the sound of a single gunshot rang into the night._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~xO~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Ulquiorra was suddenly shaken awake at the sound of a blood-curdling scream coming from down the hall. _Kiorii?_ Ulquiorra quickly got out of bed and ran down the hall to Kiorii's room.

He quickly opened the door to find Kiorii sitting up in her bed, breathing heavily and covered in cold sweat. Her arms were wrapped around herself in an attempt to calm herself down. A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Ulquiorra asked in concern.

Kiorii, who was in no condition to talk, merely nodded.

Ulquiorra walked over to her bed and sat down beside her on her bed. He felt her forehead, checking to see if she was sick, then wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug.

"Shh… it's all right. It's just a nightmare," He whispered to her, "I'm right here. And I'm fine. See?"

"J-just a nightmare…" KIorii repeated to herself shakily, "I-it was… j-just a…nightmare."

"Yes. Nothing more." Ulquiorra reassured her.

"…" No response.

Ulquiorra gave Kiorii a questioning glance and realize that she had fallen back asleep. So he gently laid her back with her head resting on her pillows, got off her bed and pulled the sheets snugly over her.

He found a chair nearby and decided to watch her – just in case.

~~~~~~~~~~o.o~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Kiorii found herself, once again, in the metallic ice-prison._

'_Not again.' Kiorii almost groaned in frustration as she repeated the process of waking Ulquiorra up and untying the rope bound around her wrists. 'Well, on the bright side, there are only two more doors left. One of them has to be the exit._' _She thought as Ulquiorra stirred and came to._

"_Where are we?" He asked again. But this time, Kiorii ignored his question as she knowingly walked to the door – finding the key hole and unlocked the door with ease. They slipped out quietly and once again, came face to face with the halls of doors. This time, Kiorii made sure to go straight for the two doors at the end of the long hallway._

'_Here goes nothing,' She thought as she reached for the doorknob on the right. To her surprise, it was locked. 'Could this be the exit? Shoot. Need a key…But since this is technically a dream, I can't really get...hurt right…?' She reached for the door on the left – which opened but all she could see was darkness. She could feel her heart beating faster from anxiety but since this was the only way they could go, she decided to test her luck as they ventured inside._

_As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they came across a flight of stairs that led them to further into unknown territory. They carefully climbed down the stairs to find tanks – all neatly in shelves – of…- Kiorii squinted to see in the dark -…gasoline! _

_A sudden idea came popped into her head. She grabbed a gasoline tank and motioned for Ulquiorra to do the same as they made a trail of gasoline behind them while climbing back up the stairs. _

'_Now for this last door,' Kiorii thought as she reached to open the last door. To her surprise, it slowly opened – revealing a shorter hallway. The two of them cautiously trekked down the hall where only a single door awaited them on the other end. 'We're going to make it!'_

"_Where did those two go?" A gruff voice called from somewhere behind them._

"_DAMN! Find them before they escape!"_

"_What's this?...Gasoline? Follow that trail!"_

'_They're coming!' Kiorii grabbed Ulquiorra's arm and dashed for the door as fast as they can run. When they reached the door and pushed it open. It was dark but something lit up the night sky. Stars! They made it out! And they were both alive!_

_When they got to the gates – the last obstacle to their freedom – they quickly climbed over the fence. And with the last of the gasoline used up, Ulquiorra threw the empty tank back to the other side._

"_Oi Boss! They escaped! I see them on the other side of the gate!" A cry from somewhere inside the building._

'_Damn it!' Kiorii searched her pockets hoping for a miracle and lo and behold; in the front pocket of her clothes, she found a lighter. She quickly made a small flame with the lighter…'Please… work.' She silently prayed as she bent down and lit the gasoline trail._

"_What the hell is that kid doing down –" The person didn't finish his sentence when the building exploded._

_The force of the explosion knocked both Kiorii and Ulquiorra down but neither had the strength to get back up._

'_We're alive…' Kiorii thought._

"_We made it," Ulquiorra said weakly._

"_Yeah…" Kiorii agreed. 'Barely…but we did it…' Her vision slowly faded to black. _

_~~~~~~~~~~~~-.-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Ulquiorra sighed in relief as he got up from where he sat. Kiorii had finally stopped tossing and turning with a pained expression on her face.

As he walked out her room, he took one last glance at his cousin's sleeping form before closing the door behind him and returning to his own room for some much needed rest.

* * *

Meanwhile; in a secluded, unknown region of Karakura Town…

A man sat in his dimly-lit room, smoking a cigarette leisurely with a bottle of wine on a small table in front of his velvet sofa, where he sat. He enjoyed this moment of silence; with the only sound being him exhaling as he smoked.

Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted his quiet sanctuary. "It's unlocked," the man said with a slight frown – obviously displeased. The door opened and an almost equally mysterious man entered. As the door to this room was opened, screams, cries and curse could be heard from all around the hallway. The new mysterious man abruptly closed the door – shutting out the noise from outside.

"Sōjirō-sama, there is a phone call for you, from one of our usual clients."

"I see," Kusaka replied as he pressed his cigarette into the half-filled ashtray.

"I had put him on hold, sir."

Kusaka got up and walked to where the phone in the room was. One of the lights was blinking red indicating that a call was on hold. He picked up the phone and answered.

"Yes?"

"How ya been, Sōjirō-han?"

"I figured you'd call again. Tell me, who is your lucky victim this time?"

"Well, 'is time, you'll be gettin' rid o' a couple of kids that 're in m' way. And unlike wha' ya did to their parents, I wan' those two dead – but do whatcha can ta make sure tha' bodies, when found 'n identified, don' show signs o' murder. I want i' ta look as close ta an accident as possible. Bet'r yet, make it so tha' bodies 're nev'r found again."

"…"

"Can tha' be done?"

"Ah… yes… but it won't be cheap."

An amused chuckle can be heard from the line before the caller continued, "I can promise ya that if ya get rid o' them, I'll pay ya more th'n 'ny amoun' I paid ya before. Ya gonna be very, very rich indeed."

"Alright, who's our target?"

"The las' two poss'ble heirs to Sosuke Aizen's 'empire', I'll fax ya th' pictures."

As if on cue, the fax machine beep as the pictures slowly printed itself.

"And what is their relation to Sosuke Aizen?" Kusaka asked as he stood in front of the fax machine waiting for the pictures to print.

"Tha'll all be on tha pictures. I'll say n' more. I have 'n 'mportant meetin' ta get to."

"Then I will inform you once the deed has been done."

"Don' take too long. Bah-bye." And the phone clicked dead.

…..

A few minutes later, Kusaka's once empty room was filled with men clad in shady outfits – hiding their faces and what ever deadly weapons they hid.

"Men," He began, "I have two new targets for you all." Kusaka passed the pictures around.

"So have we confirmed the targets' location?" One asked.

"Yes… they are actually quite close by," Another answered, "They're _in_ Karakura Town."

"And who are they in relation to Sosuke Aizen?" Another asked.

Kusaka flipped to the back of another picture that was faxed to him.

"One of them is his nephew: Ulquiorra Schiffer. The other: His little princess – Kiorii."

* * *

**Okay... so that's my chappy. And BEFORE people start messaging me about Ulquiorra's last name being spelled incorrectly again, I just want to explain that the "Schiffer" spelling coordinates with their German backgrounds in my story okay? Okay.**

**If you all remember Kusaka... He wasnt exactly one of those really well known villians in the Bleach universe so... that and I ran out of people to use... so it ended up being him xD That's all. xP**

**Oh and if you all wanna guess who made that call... feel free to say so xD Though I think it's sorta obvious...well, since I wrote it haha xD**

**Sorry for taking forever to write this...I guess I can use my PC now haha xD Until Daddy fixes my laptop. Until then... Laters! :P**


	6. Manevolence

**O.o How long has it been? Oops ^^" Erm... Well, I guess I got too sidetracked lately with college apps and senior year stuff sorry everyone! And since it's been _forever_ since I updated, lots of things in the fandom has changed too. Like all the spelling fanatics that are still pestering me about last names and all. But seeing how it's been more than half a year, I decided to change it all to the way Tite Kubo intended. Sorry for not updating sooner! (I dont own Bleach and never will! D ))**

* * *

Szayel Aporro Granz sat at his office in Karakura Hospital writing another report on his paper-clattered desk. A quiet knock on the door shifted his attention as the door slid open. A nurse with long, green hair poked her head inside.

"Hm? What is it?" His ember-colored eyes hinting annoyance at being interrupted.

"Ishida-sensei will be holding the meeting regarding the high school internship program in half an hour. I just wanted to make sure you don't miss it."

"That's very considerate of you," Szayel merely stated before returning his attention to his incomplete report, "Thank you." He said in dismissal while the nurse closed the door. He was, once again, absorbed in his work when sound of his cell phone rang – startling him slightly.

"Hello?" Szayel answered with his usual light, carefree tone.

"_Well, my flight arrived early...so…" _

"I see," Szayel replied, "I'll be there in half an hour." He quickly hung up, tucked his cell phone back in his pocket, grabbed the set of keys lying nearby and exited his office.

"Um…where are you going Szayel?" The same green-haired nurse asked – seeing that Szayel was about to leave.

"I have an urgent errand to run." He answered.

"Um…b-but when will you be back? The meeting starts in less than half an hour!"

"Then they'll just have to start without me. You can fill me in later." Szayel called out to her as he walked out of the hospital building, walked to the parking lot, got in his car, and drove to the airport. The sun had only begun to rise when he arrived.

The airport was crowded no more than usual as people hurried along their way. With so many people walking about this and that, Szayel decided to stand and scan the surrounding area and wait.

Then he noticed the familiar figure approaching – trying to distance himself from the crowd.

"Sorry I had to pull you out of work in such a rush."

Szayel merely calmly walked towards the figure. As soon as the two were in arms' distance – Szayel wrapped his arms around the other in a quick, warm embrace before helping him with his luggage.

"Are you tired from your trip?"

"Not very," Was the reply, "Though I wouldn't mind much if you decided to drop me off at home before you return to the hospital."

Szayel shook his head and chuckled as they got into his car.

Oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Kiorii woke up feeling, for the first time in months, refreshed. Today was also the day that the results of the internship program were to be posted up. She slowly got out of bed, gone through her morning routine of brushing her teeth and taking a hot shower to wake up. She dressed herself in the Karakura High School uniform, taking care to smooth out any wrinkles and combed through her hair before walking downstairs where the smell of pancakes and bacon began to fill the house.

She walked to the kitchen where Ulquiorra had just finished preparing their breakfast. "Good morning, Ulqui-nii," She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Good morning, Miss Sleepyhead. You seemed to have slept in – by your normal standards." Ulquiorra lightly teased.

"It's really odd… It's been a while since I had slept this well. It actually feels refreshing." She sat down at the table aand Ulquiorra placed the plate of pancakes in front of her. "And besides, I also think it's a nice change for you to cook for me in the morning."

As they sat down to eat quietly, Ulquiorra decided to press for more information on Il Forte Granz. "So… this Il Forte Granz… when he called, he said he was going to be in Japan soon. Do you know how soon that might be? I'm curious as to know who this person is."

Kiorii shook her head, "I still find it odd though. I'm wondering whether he has some urgent business with me. I just find it strange… ever since I left Germany, he has never even attempted to contact me and yet… just out of the blue…" Kiorii sat up abruptly, "Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong."

"Are you sure you are not just being too paranoid, again?"

"I might be overthinking this a bit too much. But I don't ever recall being wrong." She took her now empty plate and put it in the sink. Ulquiorra's empty plate followed after while she began to do the dishes. Ulquiorra hated admitting it; but he had to agree: Kiorii has _never_ been wrong.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As the two of them arrived on the school campus, there was already a huge crowd around the front window of the school. Deciding it would be a waste of time to try and mingle with the large crowd, they headed inside the school but was stopped by the assistant principal.

"What is it?" Kiorii asked impatiently.

"There is someone here to see you… and Daisuki-sensei wants to speak with you."

"What does he want?"

"He did not say…"

"Fine. I guess there has to be a reason as to why. I'll see you later then Ulqui-nii." Kiorii said as she followed the assistant principal.

Something is definitely up… but what?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

On the way to the principal's office, Kiorii felt uneasy. _… someone here to see you…_ Who could it be? No one was suppose to know she was here – she made sure her father took extra precautions to make sure her life was made private. So… who, in the world would know where she is…?

"Rii-chan!" A voice called out as the assistant principal opened the door and before she knew it, Kiorii was lifted in the air and her vision blocked by long blonde hair and the black jacket of a business suit.

"Il Forte… what are you doing here…?" _I guess I was worrying for nothing…_

"Ah… If you do not mind, Daisuke-sensei – I would like to take her out of school for the rest of the day. We have private matters to discuss."

"Hm… before you do," Daisuki-sensei began, "We have to discuss this intership program Miss Kiorii entered. Although she was accepted, she does not fit the age requirement of sixteen so I am afraid I cannot allow her to attend."

"Oh that will not be a problem. Kiorii will be sixteen in a few weeks. And I happen to know someone at the Karakura Hospital that volunteered for the internship program. There will not be any problems to worry about. I shall take full responsibility for anything that might happen if need be."

Daisuki-sensei was speechless.

"Is this all you wanted to tell me, Sensei?" Kiorii asked – annoyed.

"Y-yes," Daisuki-sensei readjusted his glasses nervously before giving the approval for Kiorii to leave.

As soon as the two were alone outside school grounds, Kiorii decided to break the silence. "Why are you here?" She demanded.

"Oh? You do not want me here? So cruel!" Il Forte replied with a fake tone of hurt, "I merely wanted to check up on you… and bring you some news you might like or not to hear."

"Go on."

"Your father is coming here to celebrate your sixteenth birthday."

Kiorii felt her heart flutter with excitement, "And this is news I would not like to hear because…?"

"Because if your father is coming, it would also mean that Gin Ichimaru will be as well – knowing you have such a strong dislike of him, I thought I might warn you ahead of time to… further mentally prepare yourself of course."

Kiorii froze in her tracks at the mention of his name, "Gin… he's coming here? When?"

"In two weeks' time," Il Forte replied.

"Damn it… that bastard always has to ruin everything. Why can't Father just come here by himself?"

"That is something perhaps you should ask him, Rii-chan."

The two of them continued to walk down one block after another, occasionally making a turn here and there. Neither of them spoke further until they arrived at the front door of the Karakura hospital. "Why are we here?" Kiorii glanced up at her guardian as he gently nudged her inside.

"You are in need of a checkup," Il Forte answered back, "After all, my brother is completing his residency here – he will be more than willing to see that you are well taken care of."

"I highly doubt that it's necessary…" But she walked in and followed Il Forte to the waiting room and sat down while he walked to the nurse that was working behind the front desk.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ulquiorra and Emma sat in their usual spot in the music room – eating quietly when Grimmjow suddenly slammed open the door and bursted into the room.

"Oi! You!" Grimmjow pointed a finger at Ulquiorra, "Where's Kiorii? I sure as hell saw you two walking to school this morning and now I can't find her anywhere!"

Ulquiorra, who was staring out the window, turned his head slowly and his emerald-green eyes focused onto him. "She was called to the principal's office, trash."

"I know! I just fucking ran from there to here! She's not there. Daisuki said someone came to take her somewhere… something about a legal guardian…"

"Then she's fine."

"What the fuck hap – "

"Jaegerjaques, since when was it any of your business to meddle into our family affairs?" Ulquiorra asked, looking at him coldly.

There was a long pause of silence, the two engaged in a heated staring contest. The atmosphere of the room was almost suffocating until someone finally broke the silence.

"Tch… bastard…" Grimmjow slammed the door shut behind him as he left.

Grimmjow stuffed his hands into the pockets of his school uniform pants… okay… maybe he deserves it…and Ulquiorra can hold one hell of a grudge but still, Ulquiorra's been even colder than his usual self.

As soon as Grimmjow shut the door, it was Emma's turn to ask.

"I… don't know…" Ulquiorra replied, "I suppose Kiorii has her own secrets to keep and as concerned as I am, I need to respect her privacy…but… lately, her behavior worries me."

"What do ya mean?"

"Kiorii and I," Ulquiorra said with a heavy sigh, "It just feels like we are not as close as we used to be…"

"You're over-thinking. But if it makes you feel better, I'll text her right now," Emma said as she took out her phone and did just that.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Kiorii sat in the waiting room of Karakura Hospital while Il Forte went inside to look for his "friend". She looked around to find it almost completely empty. Though of course, at this hour, people are typically working or at school. Suddenly her phone vibrated, signaling a text message. She quickly flipped open her phone, to no surprise, it was from Emma:

_Are you okay? Where are you?_

Just as Kiorii was about to text back a reply to reassure Emma, Il Forte returned from the front desk and sat next to her, disrupting her privacy. "How long will this take?" Kiorii demanded, staring at her phone – hoping Il Forte would get the hint and stop invading her personal space.

"It won't take too long. This is not the hospital's busy hour so…"

"I do not see the point in coming here. I am perfectly fine and capable of taking care of myself."

"Do not be so hasty, _Cheri_, there's still plenty of things you do not understand yet." A third another voice, "Now come on, it's just a quick little check up. What is there to be afraid of?"

Kiorii turned to the direction of the third voice to be greeted with a shock of pink hair and amber-colored eyes.

"Come now, Rii-chan. My brother has agreed to do a quick check up on you. Though I must return to your school and retrieve your belongings. I will return soon!" With that Il Forte got up and left. Kiorii stared absentmindedly at this pink-haired doctor that casually leaned against the wall and followed him to his office.

The pink-haired doctor motioned for her to sit on the examination table, which she did in silence – never taking her toxic-green eyes off of him. _There's just something about him… as if I've seen him before… but when?_

"Now is there anything you would like to tell me before I do a general examination?"

"No. Just get this over with so I can get back to school," Kiorii snapped back.

"Oh dear," The pink-haired doctor said in a mocking tone, placing a hand on his chest where his heart was, "So cold..."

Kiorii continued to glare at him, refusing to speak. _There just something about him… I feel as if I knew him all this time but I just cannot put a finger on it…_

The door suddenly slammed open, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oi! Szayel!"

Kiorii immediately stiffened at the make, the door of the office slammed open revealing an all-too-familiar face.

"Hm? Well, well, I didn't know you were with a patient. I'll be back later then." Nnoitra gave a lecherous grin before leaving.

Szayel clapped his hands together, "Now then. Where were we?"

"You should be arrested for illegal drug trafficking you – "

Szayel cut her off midsentence, "Ah my identity has been revealed," he said with an airy tone, "but as one of my more… _regular_ customers, you'll be arrested for the possession and use of illegal drugs you know?"

Kiorii gritted her teeth and continued to glare at him with hate-filled eyes.

"Now then; putting that aside," Szayel continued lightly, "let's continue with this check up of yours."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As the school bell rang for the final time that day, Ulquiorra placed his textbooks neatly in his schoolbag and walked out of the classroom. Kiorii _still_ had not returned to school and worse, she has not made a single attempt to contact him, Emma, or Grimmjow. To make matters worse, when he walked into Daisuke-sensei, he would not utter a single word about Kiori. Only to say that her "guardian" had taken her to the Karakura Hospital. _Might as well go to the hospital and check…_

"Still no word from Kiorii?" Emma appeared beside him.

Ulquiorra shook his head, "I going to go to Karakura Hospital to see if she's there still. I heard from Daisuke-sensei that that was where she was going. Whether or not she's still there is the main question."

"It's always worth a try right?" Emma gave him a quick smile before turning to walk back home, "Good luck!"

Ulquiorra gave a half-hearted wave before resuming his walk to the hospital.

"Alright then," Szayel took more notes as Kiorii sat, still glaring, on the examination table, "You don't seem to have abnormal symptoms. You're good to go." He reached out to pat her on the head only to have his hand slapped away angrily.

"Don't think that just because you are related to Il Forte that I will _ever_ lower my guard around people like you." She hissed back at him.

"I don't plan or expect that you do, _Cheri._" He smiled and let out a small chuckle.

Kiorii immediately stood up and stormed out the door, she bit her lower lip in a mix of anger, shock and bitter hatred. The underground drug dealer was a… She doesn't even know what he was anymore. _When I tell Il Forte they better have a reasonable answer for –_

"Oh please pardon me," Kiorii was snapped out of her thoughts as she walked right into the green haired nurse with a clipboard. "You're a bit early aren't you?" She smiled at her brightly as she scanned the clipboard, "I thought the students from the internship program wouldn't be arriving for another half hour or so."

"No, no. I had an appointment with her."

Kiorii turned around to realize that Szayel was right behind her – a gentle smile plastered on to his face.

"Oh! Well… I was just going to post up the list of students and their mentors." She let out a soft giggle, "Though you seem to have already gotten acquainted with your mentor Miss Kiorii."

Time seems to have frozen.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Kiorii tried her best to seem neutral with the news. The day just got worse and worse.

"I guess we'll have plenty of time to be more acquainted with each other!" Szayel patted her head. Her hand itched to slap him again.

Damn.

* * *

**Sorry for this chapter's shortness and likely crappiness D': Though I have to admit, with the arrancar arc ending, I havent actually been up-to-date with Bleach (Because I suddenly lost all interest...) and this story's going to likely be on haitus until I can get my muse back (Or updated VERY slowly) Sorry everyone! But unless you guys want super crappy chapters, this is how it's going to be for the time being. :'(**


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